Mar 30, 2025
The Great Potoo is a unique, but also eerie bird, found mostly in the rainforests. It is known for its wide eyes, the similarity with an owl, and of course, its haunting call. And the Potoo also has the speciality of seeing without opening its eyes!
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The great potoo is an expert at blending into its surroundings. It has a mix of gray and brown feathers that look like the branches of a tree, and when it is sitting perfectly still on a branch, it seems like the Potoo is not there at all!
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Staying true to its name, the ‘Great’ potoo is also a large bird. It has a stocky build and body with a large head, unusually large mouth, and a short, hooked beak.
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One of the most unique features of the great potoo is its ability to see even when its eyes appear closed. How? Well the eyelids of the Potoo have small slits that allow it to detect movement even when the eyes are closed.
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And with those slits, come an eerie look. When the Potoo’s eyes are closed, the all black eyelids could scare people at night, and when they are open, the mix of yellow and black in their eyes could be creepy and eerie to some.
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At night, the great potoo lets out a deep, almost whistle-like call that sounds eerie and mournful in the dead silence. The sound is a mix of mystical and mystery, making people wonder if there is a ghost around.
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The great potoo is active at night, and preys on large insects such as beetles, moths, and grasshoppers. In fact, the Great potoo could also eat small birds with its wide, gaping mouth.
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Unlike most birds that have soft feathers for a silent flight, the Great potoo moves with stealth. They glide through the forest and air, flapping minimally.
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The potoo is mostly found in tropical forests across Central and South America, and these birds prefer living in the dense forests, open woodlands, and areas with scattered trees that help them blend into the surroundings.
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Instead of building a nest or laying multiple eggs, the Potoo lays a single egg on a tree stump or a crevice in a branch. Both the male and the female bird take turns incubating the egg, and cover the egg with their body, in a camouflage, to protect it.
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The potoo is an excellent camouflage, and if it senses any sort of danger, the bird will turn perfectly still, stretch its neck upwards, and mimic a dry tree branch.
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