The Andean potoo (''Nyctibius maculosus'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family Nyctibiidae. It is found in

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved August 24, 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

For a time the Andean potoo was considered a subspecies of the

white-winged potoo The white-winged potoo (''Nyctibius leucopterus'') is a species of bird in the family Nyctibiidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jara ...

(''Nyctibius leucopterus''), but size, plumage, voice, and elevational distribution differentiate them. Those two species, the

northern potoo The northern potoo (''Nyctibius jamaicensis'') is a nocturnal bird belonging to the potoo family, Nyctibiidae. It is found from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and on the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti). It wa ...

(''N. jamaicensis''), and the

common potoo __NOTOC__ The common potoo, or poor-me-ones (''Nyctibius griseus''), or urutau is one of seven species of bird within the genus ''Nyctibius''. It is notable for its large, yellow eyes and comically wide mouth. Potoos are nocturnal and are relat ...

(''N. griseus'') are more closely related to each other than to the other potoos. The Andean potoo is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 August 2021. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved August 24, 2021Schulenberg, T. S. and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Andean Potoo (''Nyctibius maculosus''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.andpot1.01 retrieved October 19, 2021

Description

The Andean potoo is long. One male weighed and two females . The male's upperparts are brown with white, buff, tawny, and black streaks, speckles, and spots. The median wing

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are sm ...

are white and show as a broad strip on the closed wing. The chin and throat are white or grayish white with a cinnamon wash on the lower throat. The breast is brown with a buff or tawny band separating it from the buffish upper belly and flanks. The breast has blackish brown speckles and the belly and flanks have brown bars and

vermiculation Vermiculation is a surface pattern of dense but irregular lines, so called from the Latin ''vermiculus'' meaning "little worm" because the shapes resemble worms, worm-casts, or worm tracks in mud or wet sand. The word may be used in a number of ...

. The lower belly is pale buff, cinnamon buff, or whitish and has blackish brown streaks and spots. The female is lighter overall, with more of a buffy or tawny background color, and the wing coverts are buff, not white.

Distribution and habitat

The Andean potoo is known from about a dozen sites along the Andean chain from western Venezuela through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru into western Bolivia. "This patchy distribution may reflect a truly local distribution, or may reflect the difficulties of detecting a cryptically colored, nocturnal bird in sites with few resident ornithologists." In elevation it mostly ranges between about ; the lowest elevation recorded is and the highest . It inhabits the canopy of the interior and edges of humid

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

Behavior

Feeding

The Andean potoo is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

. It captures its insect prey by sallying from an exposed perch, but the details of its diet remain unknown.

Roosting

The Andean potoo roosts during the day on large branches, including those that project above the canopy.

Breeding

The Andean potoo's breeding

phenology Phenology is the study of periodic events in biological life cycles and how these are influenced by seasonality, seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as environmental factor, habitat factors (such as elevation). Examples includ ...

is unknown. It is assumed to lay one egg on a branch in the canopy in a manner similar to that of other potoos.

Vocalization

The Andean potoo's song is "an almost queulous wailing shriek, ''kwaaaanh'', given at intervals of 3-5 seconds". It also produces "a slow, hollow ''wok wok wok''" and "a quieter ''bu bu bu'' calls."

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the Andean potoo as being of Least Concern, though its population is unknown and believed to be decreasing. It is considered vary rare to rare, though possibly overlooked. Deforestation is a potential threat, but "it can tolerate forest that has been selectively logged."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1265686

Andean potoo The Andean potoo (''Nyctibius maculosus'') is a species of bird in the family Nyctibiidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J ...

Birds of the Andes Birds of the Northern Andes

Taxa named by Robert Ridgway Taxonomy articles created by Polbot