© Alan Van Norman
© Carlos Echeverría
© Micheline Bisson
© Chuck Gates

Northern Potoo Nyctibius jamaicensis

Sign in to see your badges

Identification

POWERED BY MERLIN

Bizarre, big-headed, and bug-eyed nocturnal bird with yellow eyes and cryptically streaked plumage. Found in wooded and semiopen habitats in tropical lowlands, including mangroves. Roosts upright on branches, where it blends in and looks like a broken tree branch. At night in a flashlight beam, eyes reflect like brilliant amber coals (nightjar eyes are duller and owl eyes have a dull reflection and are rarely visible). Hunts from posts and prominent perches; sallies out for insects and often returns to the same perch.

POWERED BY MERLIN