Common potoo

The common potoo was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the nightjar-like species in the genus Caprimulgus and coined the binomial name Caprimulgus griseus.{{cite book |last=Gmelin |first=Johann Friedrich |author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin |year=1789 |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |edition=13th |volume=1, Part 2 |language=Latin |location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] |publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer |page=1029 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656524 }} Gmelin based his description on "L'engoulevent gris" from Cayenne that had been described from a preserved specimen in 1779 by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.{{cite book |last=Buffon |first=Georges-Louis Leclerc de |author-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon |year=1779 |title=Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux |volume=6 |location=Paris |publisher=De l'Imprimerie Royale |page=548 |chapter=L'engoulevent gris |language=French |chapter-url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1069718q/f624.item }} The common potoo is now one of the seven potoos placed in the genus Nyctibius that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.{{cite book |last=Vieillot |first=Louis Pierre |author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot |year=1816 |title=Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire |publisher=Deterville/self |location=Paris |page=38 |language=French |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9745205x/f44.item }}{{cite web |editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Frank |editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=Pamela |editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen |date=January 2022 |title=Frogmouths, Oilbird, potoos, nightjars |work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.1 |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/nightjars/ |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union |access-date=9 July 2022 }} The genus name is from the Ancient Greek nuktibios meaning "night-feeding", from nux night and bios "life". The specific epithet griseus is Medieval Latin meaning "grey".{{cite book |last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n277/mode/1up 277], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n179/mode/1up 179]}}

The common potoo was formerly considered to be conspecific with the northern potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis). The species were split by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1995 based mainly on the differences in vocalization.{{Cite journal |last1=Monroe |first1=B.L. |last2=Banks |first2=R.C. |last3=Fitzpatrick |first3=J.W. |last4=Howell |first4=T.R. |last5=Johnson |first5=N.K. |last6=Ouellet |first6=H. |last7=Remsen |first7=J.V. |last8=Storer |first8=R.W. |date=1995 |title=Fortieth Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds |journal=The Auk |volume=112 |issue=3 |pages=819–830 |url=https://academic.oup.com/auk/article/112/3/819/5168113 }}

Two subspecies are recognised:

• N. g. panamensis Ridgway, 1912 – east Nicaragua to west Panama, west Colombia, and west Ecuador
• N. g. griseus (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – north, central South America east of the Andes

Common potoos are {{cvt|34|–|38|cm}} long with mottled red-brown, white, black, and grey cryptic plumage.{{Cite journal |last=Praimsingh |first=Sangeeta |date=2015 |title=Nyctibius griseus (Common Potoo) |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Nyctibius_griseus%20-%20Common%20Potoo.pdf |journal=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago}} This disruptive coloration allows the potoo to camouflage into branches. The sexes appear similar, and cannot be distinguished upon observation.{{Cite journal |last=Borerro |first=Jose Ignacio |date=1974 |title=Notes on the structure of the upper eyelid of Potoos (Nyctibius) |journal=The Condor |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=210–211 |doi=10.2307/1366732 |jstor=1366732}} The eyes can appear as giant black dots with a small yellow ring, or as giant yellow irises with small pupils due to voluntary pupil constriction. The potoo has two or three slits in the eyelid so that it can see when the eyelids are closed; these notches are always open. The upper and lower eyelids can be moved independently and rotated over the eye into the desired position so that the bird may adjust its field of vision. The common potoo has an unusually wide mouth with a tooth in its upper mandible for foraging purposes.{{Cite book |last=Hilty, Steven L. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/649913131 |title=Birds of Venezuela |date=2003 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3409-9 |oclc=649913131}}

It has a haunting melancholic song, a BO-OU, BO-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou, bo-ou dropping in both pitch and volume. When seized, this bird produces a squeaky sound not unlike that of a crow.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFdQFG3LbGo |title=The man seizing it is in fact trying to unentangle the bird from some wire |via=YouTube |access-date=April 9, 2022}} This call greatly differs from that of much deeper and more dramatic northern potoo.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b59ZM7fXOSs&t=42s |title=View 0:39-0:50 here |date=25 April 2015 |via=YouTube |access-date=April 9, 2022}}

The nominate subspecies of the common potoo is found in Trinidad and Tobago and every mainland South American country except Chile, though it has been recorded in that country as a vagrant. There it ranges from the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean. N. g. panamensis is found from eastern Nicaragua south through Costa Rica and Panama and west of the Andes from northwestern Venezuela through Colombia and Ecuador into northwestern Peru.{{cite journal |last=Voudouris |first=P. |date=2020 |title=Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), version 1.0 |editor-last=Schulenberg |editor-first=T.S. |journal=Birds of the World |location=Ithaca, NY, USA |publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |doi=10.2173/bow.compot1.01 |url=https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.compot1.01 |access-date=8 July 2022 |url-access=subscription }}{{cite web |author1=Remsen, J. V. Jr. |author2=J. I. Areta |author3=E. Bonaccorso |author4=S. Claramunt |author5=A. Jaramillo |author6=D. F. Lane |author7=J. F. Pacheco |author8=M. B. Robbins |author9=F. G. Stiles |author10=K. J. Zimmer |version=24 |date=August 2021 |title=Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories |url=https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm |access-date=August 24, 2021 }}

The common potoo is a resident breeder in open woodlands and savannah.{{Cite web |title=Common Potoo |url=https://abcbirds.org/bird/common-potoo/ |access-date=2020-10-03 |website=American Bird Conservancy |language=en }} It avoids cooler montane regions; it is rarely observed over {{cvt|1,900|m|abbr=on}} above mean sea level even in the hottest parts of its range. It tends to avoid arid regions but was recorded in the dry Caribbean plain of Colombia in April 1999. It has many populations in the gallery forest-type environment around the Uruguayan-Brazilian border. A bit further south, where the amount of wood-versus grassland is somewhat lower, it is decidedly rare, and due west, in the Entre Ríos Province of Argentina with its abundant riparian forest, it is likewise not common. The birds at the southern end of their range may migrate short distances northwards in winter.{{cite journal |last1=Cuervo |first1=A.M. |last2=Stiles |first2=F.G. |last3=Cadena |first3=C.D. |last4=Toro |first4=J.L. |last5=Londoño |first5=G.A. |date=2003 |title=New and noteworthy bird records from the northern sector of the Western Andes of Colombia |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=123 |issue=1 |pages=7–24 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40416044 }}{{cite journal |last1=Strewe |first1=Ralf |last2=Navarro |first2=Cristobal |date=2004 |title=New and noteworthy records of birds from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region, north-eastern Colombia |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=124 |issue=1 |pages=38–51 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40055973 }}{{cite journal |last1=Azpiroz |first1=Adrián B. |last2=Menéndez |first2=José L. |date=2008 |title=Three new species and novel distributional data for birds in Uruguay |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=128 |issue=1 |pages=38–56 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/45653623 }}

File:Nyctibius griseus 471885191 27f931630d o Crop.jpg

The common potoo seeks to mimic the perch on which it rests, using a technique called masquerading. Adult and juvenile potoos choose perches that are similar in diameter to their own bodies so that they can better blend in with the stump.{{Cite journal |last1=Cestari |first1=César |last2=Gonçalves |first2=Cristina S. |last3=Sazima |first3=Ivan |date=2018 |title=Use flexibility of perch types by the branch-camouflaged Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus): why this bird may occasionally dare to perch on artificial substrates |journal=Wilson Journal of Ornithology |volume=130 |issue=1 |pages=191–199 |doi=10.1676/16-175.1 |s2cid=90859242 }} Most potoos choose stumps and other natural materials on which to rest, but some adults have been spotted perching on human-made items. These birds adjust their perching angle to best mimic the stump where they are.

The potoo sits with its eyes open and its bill horizontal while awake, but if disturbed, assumes an alert "freezing" posture. This entails sticking its beak vertically up in the air, closing its eyelids (through which it can still see via slits), and remaining still. If disturbed by larger animals, such as common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), it may break its camouflage and try to chase the threat away.de Lyra-Neves, Rachel M.; Oliveira, Maria A.B.; Telino-Júnior, Wallace R. & dos Santos, Ednilza M. (2007): Comportamentos interespecíficos entre Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Primates, Callitrichidae) e algumas aves de Mata Atlântica, Pernambuco, Brasil [Interspecific behaviour between Callithrix jacchus (Linnaeus) (Callitrichidae, Primates) and some birds of the Atlantic forest, Pernambuco State, Brazil]. Revista Brasileira de Zoologia 24(3): 709–716 [Portuguese with English abstract]. {{doi|10.1590/S0101-81752007000300022}} [http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbzool/v24n3/a22v24n3.pdf PDF fulltext]. If disturbed by a human being, its behaviors can be quite variable - quickly flying away, intimidation via beak-opening, or remaining still even when being touched.

This nocturnal insectivore hunts from a perch like a shrike or flycatcher. It uses its wide mouth to capture insects such as flies and moths, but also ants, other hymenopterans, termites, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets. It has a unique tooth in its upper mandible to assist in foraging but swallows its prey whole.

The common potoo chooses a stump {{cvt|3|–|15|m|round=5}} high to occupy.{{ cite journal | last=Skutch | first=A.F. | author-link=Alexander Skutch | date=1970 | title=Life history of the Common Potoo | journal=Living Bird | volume=9 | pages=265–280 | url=https://sora.unm.edu/node/150594 }} It normally chooses a branch stump as a nest and adds no sort of decorative or insulative material. It ejects feces from its perch to keep the nest clean. If breeding, the potoo chooses a stump with a small divot where an egg can be laid.{{ cite journal | last1=Greeney | first1=H.F. | last2=Gelis | first2=R.A. | last3=White | first3=R. | date=2004 | title=Notes on breeding birds from an Ecuadorian lowland forest | journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club | volume=124 | issue=1 | pages=28–37 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40056001 }}

File:Mãe-da-lua e seu filhote.JPG

Common potoos are monogamous.{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Robert J. |date=2004 |title=Review of: Nightjars and Their Allies: The Caprimulgiformes David T. Holyoak |journal=The Auk |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=622–623 |doi=10.2307/4090427 |jstor=4090427 |doi-access=free }} After mating, the female lays a single white egg with lilac spots directly into the depression in a tree limb. Parents normally care for one egg at a time. The male and female alternate brooding the egg while the other forages for insects. They divide brooding time evenly.

Potoos lay their eggs in December to begin their roughly 51-day nesting period, one of the longest nesting periods for birds their size. Young potoos hatch after about 33 days, using their egg tooth to break free and emerge as downy individuals with pale brown and white stripes. The hatchling is fed by regurgitation. Parents gradually decrease their presence in the nest with the juvenile as it matures. While the parents are away from the nest, the fledgling begins to feed on nearby flies and preen itself. Around 14 days old, the juvenile begins wing exercises and takes gradual steps toward leaving the nest. It ventures out on several flights, then returns to the nest with its parents, before departing for good about 25 days after hatching. Juveniles display disruptive coloration like adults, so they can also camouflage into a branch.Cott, Hugh (1940). Adaptive Coloration in Animals. Oxford University Press. pp. 352–353 Apart from flying away, chicks respond to disturbances in a similar manner to adults.

The IUCN has assessed the common potoo as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range and a population of at least 500,000 mature individuals. However, the population is declining, probably due to habitat destruction.

{{Reflist |refs =

{{cite book |title=A Guide to the Birds of Colombia |first1=Steven L. |last1=Hilty |first2=Bill|last2=Brown |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ, US |year=1986 |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kHa6tJNKGDAC&pg=PA235 |isbn=978-0-691-08372-8}}

}}

• ffrench, Richard; O'Neill, John Patton & Eckelberry, Don R. (1991): A guide to the birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd edition). Comstock Publishing, Ithaca, N.Y.. {{ISBN|0-8014-9792-2}}
• Hilty, Steven L. (2003): Birds of Venezuela. Christopher Helm, London. {{ISBN|0-7136-6418-5}}

{{Commons category|Nyctibius griseus|Common Potoo}}

• [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/common-potoo-nyctibius-griseus Common potoo videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection
• [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=common+potoo&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 "Common potoo" photo gallery] VIREO

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common potoo

Category:Birds of Nicaragua

Category:Birds of Costa Rica

Category:Birds of Panama

Category:Birds of Trinidad and Tobago

Category:Birds of South America

common potoo

common potoo