Last updated on March 22nd, 2022 at 08:50 am
The Great Potoo is an interesting bird for biologists and amateur bird watchers alike. They’re unique in many ways, such as how they live and interact with other species. They even have interesting legends based on them in some cultures.
Here are 12 interesting things to know about the Great Potoo:
1. Is the Great Potoo an Owl?
The Great Potoo looks very similar to an owl, but it’s a distinctly different bird.
They’re more closely related to nightjars than owls, although both are nocturnal and have big eyes.
The birds most closely related to the Great Potoo are nighthawks, frogmouths, and whip-poor-wills.
The Great Potoo is unique among its relatives due to its size. It’s much larger than the other birds in its family, including other potoos and all nightjars and nighthawks.
2. What Sound Does the Great Potoo Make?
The Great Potoo makes an intimidating, descending roaring sound. The sound is so distinctive that it’s how it got its name.
Some experts have even compared the sound of a Great Potoo to the sound of a fox. Other potoos, by contrast, have more melodic sounds or guttural shrieks.
3. Where Do Great Potoos Live?
Great Potoos live mainly in the upper canopies of rainforests and forests in Central American neotropical areas.
The northernmost part of their range is in southern Mexico, and the southernmost part of their range is in Bolivia.
They like humid climates and high branches, which are both found in these neotropical regions.
In areas that have been developed, you can also find Great Potoos in farmlands and agricultural fields. They’ve even been spotted in developed residential areas.
4. Do Male and Female Great Potoos Look Identical?
Male and female Great Potoos look identical. In fact, biologists haven’t determined how time is divided between sexes at the nest.
Both sexes have a pale grey head with large eyes and can be differentiated from other potoos by a lack of a mustache stripe.
5. How Many Eggs Does a Great Potoo Lay?
A Great Potoo lays only one egg per nesting season.
They invest all their time and energy into this one egg, including incubating the egg and raising the hatchling to a fledgling 55 days later.
Only one parent stays with the egg, though it’s unclear whether this is the male or the female.
The Great Potoo’s egg is recognizable by its white color and faint spotting. It’s often laid during the rainy season of the neotropical region.
6. How Long Has the Great Potoo Been Around?
The Great Potoo has been around for millions of years.
Great Potoo fossils dating back 40 million years have been found in France and Germany, far away from its current range in Central and South America.
Their relatives have been around even longer and lived in a broader range than they do today.
7. What Does the Great Potoo Eat?
The Great Potoo eats many flying insects, including grasshoppers, beetles, and moths.
They catch these by flying after them with their mouths open at night, swallowing them whole.
Their big eyes help them spot and track insects with precision, and their wide mouths make the insects easier to swallow.
The Great Potoo may also eat bats occasionally, although they typically prefer insects. Small birds can also make good prey for the Great Potoo.
8. How Does the Great Potoo Camouflage Itself?
The Great Potoo has numerous methods for camouflaging itself.
Its feathers are colored according to its environment, and it perches very still as though it were an extension of the tree limb it’s sitting on.
The Great Potoo most often sits on horizontal limbs, whereas other potoos will usually sit on a broken snag where they can blend into the vertical stretch of a tree.
9. Are There Legends Surrounding the Great Potoo?
There are several legends surrounding the origins of the Great Potoo, including a famous legend from the Shuar people of Ecuador.
According to this legend, the bird embodies the spirit of a woman whose husband flew away into the sky and landed on the moon.
She flew after him but fell to the earth, and the eerie cries of the bird are said to be cries from this woman.
10. Is the Great Potoo Hunted By Monkeys?
Adult Great Potoos are not hunted by monkeys, but monkeys prey upon their nests.
Common predators of Great Potoo eggs include howler monkeys, Geoffroy’s Spider Monkeys, and White-Headed Capuchins.
Some falcons will eat Great Potoo eggs, too, like the Collared Forest Falcon.
11. Is the Great Potoo Endangered?
The Great Potoo is not endangered.
Although the global population size of the Great Potoo has been decreasing in recent years, the population status remains of Least Concern.
This is a few steps above endangered according to the international authorities.
Habitat loss may contribute to the loss of Great Potoo populations, but these birds can thrive in varied settings, even farmlands.
12. Does the Great Potoo Migrate?
The Great Potoo does not migrate.
Rather, the Great Potoo can be found year-round across a wide range of ecosystems and regions.
Great Potoos have been spotted in varied biomes, including savanna, rainforest, and woodlands, and they don’t require relocation even during extreme weather seasons.
Part of the reason why Great Potoos can live where they do year-round is due to a lack of extreme temperature fluctuation between seasons where they are native.
In the neotropical regions where they live, they don’t need to worry about extreme cold.