The northern potoo (''Nyctibius jamaicensis'') is a

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 ...

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 ...

belonging to the

potoo Potoos (family Nyctibiidae) are a group of birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are sometimes called poor-me-ones, after their haunting calls. The family Nyctibiidae was formerly included with the nightjars in the order Caprimulg ...

family, Nyctibiidae. It is found from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and on the islands of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

(in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

). It was formerly classified as a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of 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 ...

(''Nyctibius griseus'') but is now usually treated as a separate species based on differences in vocalizations.

Taxonomy

The northern potoo was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist

Johann Friedrich Gmelin , fields = , workplaces = University of GöttingenUniversity of Tübingen , alma_mater = University of Tübingen , doctoral_advisor = Philipp Friedrich GmelinFerdinand Christoph Oetinger , academic_advisors = , doctora ...

in his revised and expanded edition of

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

's ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. He placed it with all the nightjar like species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Caprimulgus ''Caprimulgus'' is a large and very widespread genus of nightjars, medium-sized nocturnal birds with long pointed wings, short legs and short bills. ''Caprimulgus'' is derived from the Latin ''capra'', "nanny goat", and ''mulgere'', "to milk", re ...

'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Caprimulgus jamaicensis''. Gmelin based his description on earlier accounts of the bird in Jamaica, including

Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

's "Wood owle" published in 1725 and John Latham's "Jamaican goatsucker" published in 1783. The northern potoo is now one of the seven potoos placed in the genus ''

Nyctibius Bird genera ''Nyctibius'' is a genus of potoos, nocturnal birds in the family Nyctibiidae. Etymology The genus ''Nyctibius'' was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot to accommodate a single species, C ...

'' that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot Louis Pierre Vieillot (10 May 1748, Yvetot – 24 August 1830, Sotteville-lès-Rouen) was a French ornithologist. Vieillot is the author of the first scientific descriptions and Linnaean names of a number of birds, including species he collecte ...

. The genus name is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''nuktibios '' meaning "night-feeding", from ''nux'' night and ''bios'' "life". The specific epithet is from the toponym, Jamaica, the type locality. The northern potoo was formerly classified as a

of the

(''Nyctibius griseus''), but since 1995 it has usually been treated as a separate species based on the differences in vocalizations.

Subspecies

Five subspecies as recognised: * ''Nyctibius jamaicensis lambi'' Davis, J, 1959 – west Mexico * ''Nyctibius jamaicensis mexicanus''

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, 1900 – east, south Mexico to Honduras * ''Nyctibius jamaicensis costaricensis'' Ridgway, 1912 – Costa Rica * ''Nyctibius jamaicensis jamaicensis'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789) –

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

- Jamaica * ''Nyctibius jamaicensis abbotti''

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, 1917 – Hispaniola and

Gonâve Island Gonâve Island or Zile Lagonav (french: Île de la Gonâve, ; also ''La Gonâve'') is an island of Haiti located west-northwest of Port-au-Prince in the Gulf of Gonâve. It is the largest of the Hispaniolan satellite islands. The island is an a ...

Description

It is a fairly large bird with a length of 38-46 centimetres. It has a long tail, long pointed wings, large head, very short legs and a small bill with a large gape. It is most commonly seen perched motionless in an upright position on branches or posts. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

is grey-brown with an intricate pattern of black, grey and cream markings. The cheeks are pale with a dark malar stripe below them. The large eye has a yellow

iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

which can shine red in light at night. The bird's calls are hoarse and guttural. The common potoo is virtually identical in appearance, but has a very different voice consisting of a series of mournful, wailing whistles. The

great potoo The great potoo (''Nyctibius grandis'') is the largest potoo species and is widely distributed in Central and South America. Much like owls, this species is nocturnal. It preys on large insects and small vertebrates, which it captures in sallies ...

is larger and paler, with no dark malar stripe. The song is a "rough, squalling ''kwaaah, kwa-kwa-kwa''". It also makes "an abrupt, emphatic ''rrah!''" and "a barking alarm call".

Distribution and habitat

The five subspecies are distributed across

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It mainly occurs in lowland areas where it inhabits

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

and

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...

with clearings and farmland with scattered trees. It is sometimes seen around

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

s and urban areas. It is a occasional visitor to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and its presence in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

is unconfirmed.

Behavior and ecology

Breeding

A single

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

is laid on a broken branch with no

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

material used. Both parents are involved in incubating the egg and feeding the young bird.

Food and feeding

It feeds on large

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s such as

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

s or

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s. It hunts from a perch, sitting and waiting for prey then

sallying out Hawking is a feeding strategy in birds involving catching flying insects in the air. The term usually refers to a technique of sallying out from a perch to snatch an insect and then returning to the same or a different perch, though it also appli ...

to catch it in flight.

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 northern potoo as being of Least Concern. It has a large range and a population exceeding 50,000 mature individuals, though that number is believed to be decreasing. The

Mopan people The Mopan people are an indigenous, sub-ethnic group of the Maya peoples. They are native to regions of Belize and Guatemala. History In the 18th and 19th centuries, the British forced the Mopan out of Belize and into Guatemala. There, they endu ...

believe that if a northern potoo () flies over a person's house repeatedly at night, someone in that family will die. To prevent this, they chase the birds away with lighted sticks, whose

embers ''Embers'' is a radio play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English in 1957. First broadcast on the BBC Third Programme on 24 June 1959, the play won the RAI prize at the Prix Italia awards later that year. Donald McWhinnie directed Jack ...

are said to repel the bird.

References

*Clements, James F. (2007) ''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'', 6th ed., Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York. *Downer, Audrey & Sutton, Robert (1990) ''Birds of Jamaica: A Photographic Field Guide'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. *Garrigues, Richard & Dean, Robert (2007) ''Birds of Costa Rica'', Christopher Helm, London. *Raffaele, Herbert; Wiley, James; Garrido, Orlando; Keith, Allan & Raffaele, Janis (2003) ''Birds of the West Indies'', Christopher Helm, London.

External links

Mangoverde World Bird Guide: Northern Potoo ''Nyctibius jamaicensis''.
VIREO * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070108213024/http://www.sos-wildlifejamaica.org.jm/Potoo's%20good%20side.JPG Photo-High Resbr>Article
sos-wildlifejamaica
Photo-Medium Res
tropicalbirding {{Taxonbar, from=Q898991 northern potoo Birds of Hispaniola Birds of the Dominican Republic Birds of Jamaica Birds of the Yucatán Peninsula Birds of Belize Birds of Guatemala Birds of El Salvador Birds of Honduras Birds of Nicaragua Birds of Central America northern potoo northern potoo