#nyctibiiformes

[herpsandbirds]

Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis ), mother and chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctybiiformes, Costa Rica

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by Alvaro Cubero

[birdblues]

Common Potoo

[aquilathefighter]

close! Potoos are closely related to the frogmouths and nightjars, so they all share some traits, like large mouths, camouflage that resembles tree bark, and being nocturnal. It's easy to mistake them for each other.

Potoos are found in tropical parts of the Americas, from Mexico to Argentina. Other names for potoos include kakuy/cacuy or urutau!

Here's a picture of the common potoo, which closely resembles the one in the drawings! (i'm not exactly sure which species the artist based their art on, they all look pretty similar and I haven't studied them very much)

(via)

The name of this creature is YOTAcat or POTOOcat.

This creature is a combination of Yotaka (potoo) and cat.

His true identity is one of an alien reconnaissance unit that plans to invade the earth.

His body can change its shape at will by copying other creatures and objects.

When he came to Earth, he first tried to copy the appearance of the planet's main life form.

However, the first thing he saw there was a cat. He decided that the creature was the main life form and tried to copy the cat's form.

However, by some accident, he also copied the information of Potoo, and his body became a chimera of cat and Potoo.

What was even more unexpected for these aliens was that once they copied the earth creatures, the original spirit invaded their psyche.

His spirit was about to be taken over by cats and POTOO!

The human who found the strange creature brought it home out of curiosity. Not knowing it was a vicious alien.......

[camouflage-birds]

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)

© Nicolás Bejarano

[thats-a-nice-nest]

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus)

© Nicolás Bejarano

[stranger-nature]

Nightjars are great, but Frogmouths, Potoos, and Owlet-nightjars are not true nightjars! True Nightjars are of the order Caprimulgiformes, while these guys are actually within their own (somewhat related) orders, Podargiformes, Nyctibiiformes, and Aegotheliformes respectively!

NIGHTJARS

You heard me.  

Nightjars.

They are the BEST birds.  Don’t come at me with BUT CORVIDS y’all know Corvids aren’t birds, they’re magic.

Anyway.  Nightjars.  Why nightjars, you might ask.  Well let me tell  you why.

I’ve already told you about the Tawny Frogmouth

But there is also the Great Eared Nightjar

Pennant-winged Nightjar

Standard-winged Nightjar. Yes, those are part of its wings. No, I don’t know WTF.

This oddly shaped stump.  haha tricked you!  It’s a Tawny frogmouth and baby.

Lyretail Nightjar.  again, why.  again, no idea.

Australian owlet-nightjar

Swallowtail Nightjar.  Not so fancy?  look again. that mustache.

Not into cute mustaches on birds?

Tell that to this Sickle-winged Nightjar.  

Before it cuts you down with its badass wings.

Hey another stump - wait no it’s a FROGMOUTH

I’m not the first to have come to this conclusion.  

says right there.  BEST BIRD.

Ok whatever Indian Nightjar doesn’t care what you think about it.

If you don’t agree, you can sit over there and be wrong.

[danilopesz]

Mãe-da-lua O mãe_da-lua é uma ave da ordem Nyctibiiformes da família Nyctibiidae. Conhecido também como urutau, urutau-comum, urutágua, urutágo, Kúa-kúa e Uruvati (nomes indígenas - Mato Grosso). O nome urutau é tupi e significa “ave fantasma”. Há uma crendice na Amazônia de que as penas da cauda do urutau protegeriam a castidade. Por isso, a mãe varre debaixo das redes das meninas com uma vassoura confeccionada com estas penas. Conta uma famosa lenda boliviana, que na densa mata habitava a bela filha do cacique de certa tribo, enamorada por um jovem guerreiro da mesma tribo, a quem amava profundamente. Amava e era amada. Ao saber do romance, o pai da menina, enfurecido pelo ciúmes, usou suas artes mágicas e tomou a decisão de acabar com o namoro da maneira mais trágica: matar o pretendente. Ao sentir o desaparecimento de seu amado, a jovem índia entrou na selva para procurá-lo. Enorme foi sua surpresa ao perceber o terrível fato. Em estado de choque, voltou para casa e ameaçou contar tudo à comunidade. O velho pai, furioso, a transformou em uma ave noturna para que ninguém soubesse do acontecido. Porém, a voz da menina passou à ave. Por isso, durante as noites, ela sempre chora a morte de seu amado com um canto triste e melancólico. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJRQAhSsKyJ-OwSLac4DseX_W7tHXlh3uL8TPE0/?igshid=1hpty1dme3r1j

[alonglistofbirds]

[2626/11080] Common potoo - Nyctibius griseus

Order: Nyctibiiformes (potoos) Family: Nyctibiidae

Photo credit: Martjan Lammertink via Macaulay Library

[fullfrontalbirds]

Great Potoo (Nyctibius grandis)

© Andres Vasquez Noboa

[biancatronic]

This is not an owl is a Brazilian bird called Urutau.

The urutaus are a group of nocturnal birds restricted to the Neotropics of South America, which belong to the genus Nyctibius, of the family Nyctibiidae and order Nyctibiiformes. They are also called mother-of-the-moon and stump-splicing.

- Wikipedia

[herpsandbirds]

Great Potoo (Nyctibius grandis), family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Cuzco, Peru

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by JJ Pamplona

[birdblues]

Common Potoo

[herpsandbirds]

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Brazil

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by Gastaldon 

[herpsandbirds]

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), mother with chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Costa Rica

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by Christopher Gutierrez

[herpsandbirds]

Could you do the Ghost Bird? They're so goofy i love them

Ghost Birds!

I had never heard Common Potoos called this before! Thanks for introducing me to this nick name!

Here are some Potoo friends for you...

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), mother with chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Costa Rica

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by Christopher Gutierrez

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), mother with chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Brazil

photograph by Juan José Arango

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Ecuador

photograph by Rob Brady

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Brazil

photograph by Gastaldon 

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), mother with chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Brazil

photograph by Pedro Ferreira do Amaral

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, found in southern Central America and in South America

photographs by Fabio Maffei & Glenn Bartley

[herpsandbirds]

Question: I thought that nightjars, frogmouths, and potoos were all the same / closely related (as in similar species within the same genus close). Is this the case, or not? Follow up questions: which has the bigger mouth, and can any be found in Colorado, USA?

Nightjars, Frogmouths, and Potoos:

Yes, hello, so, yes... All 3 of these groups were once considered to be in the same order Caprimulgiformes (which now just contains the "Nightjars", poorwills, chick wills widow, nighthawks, and pauraques... all of the birds in this group can be referred to as "the nightjars", as well).

Later genetic analysis told a different story:

Each of the 3 groups were separate, but closely related groups, with pottoos and frogmouths actually being more closely related to each other than to nightjars. And, and, and... get this, probably more closely related to swifts and other Apodiformes!

Neither the Frogmouths, nor the Potoos, are as closely related to nightjars as previously thought!

Frogmouths are now in the order Podargiformes.

Potoos are now in the order Nyctibiiformes.

Oilbirds are now in the order Steatornithiformes, which is considered to be closely related to Nightjars.

As far as Colorado goes...

Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor) occurs across the state.

Lesser Nighthawk (Chordeiles acutipennis) occasionally occurs in the most southern parts of the state.

Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii) occurs across the state.

Common Poorwill (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii), family Caprimulgidae, order Caprimulgiformes, Fresno, CA, USA

photograph by Hailey Stalter

Large Frogmouth (Batrachostomus auritus), mother with chick, family Podargidae, order Podargiformes, found in SE Asia

photograph by Jamil Mat Isa

Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), mother with chick, family Nyctibiidae, order Nyctibiiformes, Costa Rica

Potoos used to be in the same order as nightjars, but are now placed in their own order.

photograph by Christopher Gutierrez