Potoos are related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are sometimes called poor-me-ones, after their haunting calls. There are seven species in one genus, Nyctibius, in tropical Central and South America. These are nocturnal insectivores which lack the bristles around the mouth found in the nightjars. They hunt from a perch like a flycatcher. During the day they perch upright on tree stumps, camouflaged to look like part of the stump. The single spotted egg is laid directly on the top of a stump.
Genus Nyctibius
Potoo,_Andean Nyctibius maculosus Found: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Image by: 1) Isirvio 2) Dominic_Sherony 3) Nick Athanas - Ecuador 4) David_Cook - Ecuador
Potoo,_Common Nyctibius griseus Found: Central and South America
The Common Potoo has plane gray to brown plumage; finely patterned with black and bluff.
Image by: 1) Reinaldo_Aguilar - Costa Rica 2. 4) Julian_Londono 4) Nick Athanas - Peru 5) Sidnei_Siqueira
Potoo,_Great Nyctibius grandis Found: tropical Central and South America
The Great Potoo's plumage varies with white, gray, black, and burgundy. It has a large head.
Image by: 1) Mitternacht90 2) Charles_Sharp - Brazil 3, 4) Nick Athanas - Brazil
1) Specimen
Potoo,_Long-tailed Nyctibius aethereus Found: South America
Image by: 1) Nick Athanas - Brazil 2) Patty_McGann - Peru 3) Claudio_Timm
Potoo,_Northern Nyctibius jamaicensis Found: Mexico to Costa Rica; also Jamaica, Hispaniiola
The Northern Potoo hasw gray-brown plumage with gray and cream marking; pale cheeks with dark malar stripe below them.
Image by: 1) Jose_Amorin 2) Dominic_Sherony 3) Bryant_Olsen 4) Nick Athanas - Mexico
Potoo,_Rufous Nyctibius bracteatus Found: South America
The Rufous Potoo has rufous plumage with white spots on the underparts.
Image by: 1) Joseph_Smit 2) Nick Athanasœ - Ecuador 3) Eric_Gropp - Ecuador
Potoo, White-winged Nyctibius leucopterus Found: South America
Image by: 1) Andrew_Whittaker 2) Ciro Albano - Brazil
