Great Potoo

The Great Potoos (Nyctibius grandis) is a noisy, strange-looking bird that can be found in the canopy of the Amazon rainforest. This species is nocturnal, much like owls. It hunts huge insects and tiny vertebrates, catching them in sallies while perched high up. The great potoo's distinctive groaning growl, which it vocalizes throughout the night, maybe its most well-known feature. With its nocturnal sounds, it creates an ominous atmosphere in the Neotropics.

The head of the huge potoo is larger than its body. The beak is small but broad, and the eyes, which have a brown to yellow iris, are also very large. Their tail is lengthened, and their wings are elliptical in shape. White, gray, black, and burgundy are some of the different feather hues. With the exception of white stripes that may be seen running across the tail laterally, the colors of the tail mirror those of the rest of the body. They typically can be found perching or nesting during the daytime in large trees, usually more than 12 meters above the ground. They typically perch on branches that are between 20 and 30 centimeters in diameter. They may descend to perches 1.5 meters below the earth at night to prey from there.