Potoos

Nature 3 Minutes

Potoos are neotropical birds of the family Nyctibiidae. There are 7 species of potoos and all of them are famous for their incredible camouflage skills.

They are often seen in memes due to their slightly goofy-come-creepy looks, with enormous googly yellow eyes, as well as their amusing name (often mistakenly spelled ‘pooto‘).

Potoos are insectivorous, nocturnal and related to nightjars and frogmouths. They can be found in every central and south American country, on Caribbean islands and have the greatest diversity in the Amazon, which holds five of the seven species.

During the day, they perch almost completely still with their eyes closed on the ends of dead branches or tree stumps. This behavior combined with their tree-like plumage makes them so well camouflaged that it is almost impossible to spot them.

At night, they are excellently evolved for hunting flying insects. Their large eyes combined with huge mouths allow them to swoop down from their perches and grab beetles, moths, termites and more.

Interesting Potoo Facts

Potoo camouflage perfectly with dead branches.

While some animals focus on defense techniques, these birds instead have become talented at hiding. They perch at the top of a dead branch usually, where they position themselves at a sharp angle and stay completely still, with their eyes closed.

The Great potoo below even points its beak upwards, making itself look even more like a branch.

Potoos will stay in this position all day, barely moving, and almost invisible.

They can see you even with their eyes closed.

They have “magic eyes”, which are small folds along the upper eyelids that allow them to sense movement with their eyes closed. This means that from their camouflaged positions during the day, they can still watch for predators.

Potoo have huge mouths.

In the same way that humpback whales have huge mouths to catch as many krill as possible, these birds’ huge mouths allow them to scoop up lots of flying insects.

They have equally huge eyes.

As night-time hunters, their huge eyes mean they have excellent night vision allowing them to spot insects from their perch. They also add to the dorky look that has made them so popular in memes.

Potoo lay a single egg in the top of broken branches.

They lay a single egg in the same place they perch for camouflage during the day, usually in the hollowed-out top of a broken branch. They add no materials to the nest, making it harder to spot. They are also meticulously clean, removing all of the chick’s poop from the nest making it hard for predators to find them by smell.

They start young.

From a young age, nesting potoos imitate their parents, standing in camouflaged positions next to their parents, as can be seen in the adorable photo below.

Potoo have strange and wonderful calls.

Across Nyctibiidae there is a wide range of weird and wonderful of calls, all of which are likely to disturb new night-time wanderers of the neotropics. The Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus) has earned itself the local name of “Ayaymama”, after it’s long and mournful call “ayyyyyy ayyyyy maaaaa maaaa”. While the Great Potoo has terrifying moaning howl.

Their eerie night-time calls make them a subject of many myths.

The Common Potoos eerie call of “aaaaaay aaaaay maaaaa maaaaa” has led to the Amazonian version of Hansel and Gretel. Two children, abandoned in the forest by parents too poor to feed them, eventually turn into birds. They are eternally calling out “mama” to the mother that left them. While in Ecuador there is an equally sad story of two lovers separated, one becomes the moon and the other a potoo. The potoo is eternally calling out to the lover it can never reach, the moon.

The adorable Rufous Potoo is the smallest of the potoos.

The Rufous Potoo (Nyctibius bracteatus) is the smallest potoo, weighing in at around 50g. Its tactic is to pretend to be dead leaves. It even rocks back and forth slightly so that it resembles a leaf moving in the wind.

They’ve started perching on human-made things.

An extensive study showed that potoos have taken to hiding on human things, like plastic bottles. This is an interesting side effect of humans continuing spread into wild habitats.

SOURCE: FACT ANIMAL

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Published by pat frederick

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204 thoughts on “Potoos”

  1. Morning All!
    sooooo chilly this morning I didn’t want to get out of bed!
    walmart was amazingly stocked yesterday–like to the ceilings!! the shelves were stocked and there were employees and cashiers everywhere…it was like 5 years ago!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Morning, Pat! It’s warmer here this morning – 52 at the moment. A lot of rain, lightning and thunder but from what I could tell, the wind wasn’t too bad. It’s too dark to see if there are any limbs down anywhere. The power blipped around 3:30 but it was quick enough I only had to reset 2 clocks. Food is out for GT but it’s still raining a bit so she may not show up for a while. I wish our WM would get their shit together – still stacks and stacks of boxes to be shelved.

      If you want to hear the Potoo’s call….

      Liked by 1 person

    1. My favorite egg dishes:

      ALMOND ROCA COOKIE BARS

      Ingredients
      nonstick cooking spray (i use bakers joy for this recipe)
      1/2 cup brown sugar
      1/2 cup granulated sugar
      1 cup unsalted butter
      1 large egg yolk
      1/2 tsp salt
      1 tsp almond extract
      1 cup all-purpose flour (see note in recipe intro)
      1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (note: a 12oz bag has about 2 cups chips, and i usually use the entire bag for more chocolate flavor, but the original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of chips)
      1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

      Directions
      1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 11×15-inch baking sheet (or jelly roll pan) with nonstick spray.
      2. Blend brown sugar, white sugar, butter and egg yolk until well combined. Add flour, salt and almond extract, and mix well.
      3. Add dough to baking sheet, and spread into even layer. Bake in oven for 25 minutes.
      4. Immediately after removing baking sheet from oven, spread chips overthe hot cookie base. As the chips melt, use a spatula to spread the meltedchocolate evenly over the cookies base. Sprinkle the almonds on top whilechocolate is still warm and melted. Let it cool

      HINT – Double the recipe and use the leftover egg whites for these:

      FORGOTTEN COOKIES

      Ingredients

      2 egg whites
      1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      1 pinch salt
      1/4 tsp cream of tartar
      1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
      1 cup chopped pecans
      ¼ cup white sugar

      Directions

      Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C).

      Beat egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly add sugar, one tablespoonful at a time, beating after each addition until the meringue stands in stiff peaks.

      Stir in vanilla and fold in chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a lined baking sheet and place in preheated oven.

      After 2 minutes, turn off oven. Leave meringues in oven overnight. Remove from pan and store in cookie tin lined with paper towel.

      Mama Smith’s Pecan Refrigerator Cookies

      Beat together:
      1-1/2 cups butter
      1 c. brown sugar
      1 c. white sugar
      2 eggs

      Whisk together:
      4 c. flour
      1 tdp baking soda
      1 tsp cream of tartar
      1/2 tsp salt

      Mix sugar/egg and flour mixtures together.
      Add 2 c. chopped pecans.

      Roll into logs, wrap with plastic wrap or waxed paper, refrigerate for a couple of hours or store in freezer until needed.

      Slice and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Pat-risse is the one who bought herself a multi-million $$$ mansion with BLM protection racket dollars from big corporations.

      SPIT!!!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. EXACTLY!!!
        i know a lot of $$ was funneled in by those paying for blm to protest and riot, but what about the people that honestly donated? thinking they were somehow helping black lives?
        why are they not going after her?
        makes me believe there weren’t many of those kinds of supporters

        Liked by 2 people

  8. the beheaded babies were and remain unconfirmed—all to gin up emotions

    Clandestine
    @WarClandestine
    What did we learn from yesterday?

    Not everything you see or hear is true.

    There are nefarious entities seeking to manipulate your emotions to advance their own geopolitical agenda.

    Evil exists, but so does propaganda.

    Acting on emotion leads to mistakes.

    Let’s tighten up.

    Like

    1. Like

      1. not according to everyone this morning. the reporter who “confirmed” it was merely taking the word of others. she never saw anything. not saying atrocities didn’t happen, but the beheaded babies is not one

        Like

        1. I’m talking about the International Spokesman for the IDF verifying that there were beheadings of babies and children. I understand – it is hard comprehending such evil and barbarity but it is nothing to them – it is the goal for EVERY Fakestinian to die defending Islam and for the women to willingly sacrifice their own children, much less anyone else’s children!

          Liked by 1 person

          1. so he’s saying he PERSONALLY saw the headless babies? or is this the same “soldiers reported” bullshit.
            they are certainly capable of such horrors, but they want us emotionally pulled into supporting war. gotta keep the MIC happy and those kickbacks flowing.
            and there’s tom hanks out there saying that isn’t him in some ad about dental something or other. how do you trust anything that you yourself can’t verify?
            go to an abortion clinic and see the horrors there and tell me atrocities aren’t committed EVERY DAY in this country,

            Like

  15. Liked by 2 people

  18. 🚨JUST IN – Israeli Minister of Energy: We will not turn on electricity, pump water, or enter any fuel trucks to Gaza until Israeli hostages return from Gaza

    Source: Channel 12 pic.twitter.com/RkSPPs1cQ0

    — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 12, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

    1. https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/russias-putin-blames-us-for-ongoing-israel-palestine-crisis-urges-two-state-solution-101696987194953.html
      Our Take: “I know there will be reactions to Putin floating a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine theater, but it’s a solution Trump has also floated. More so, what interests me is his repeated calls for peace and lack of harm to civilians on any and all sides, ignoring repeated calls for arming, funding and bombing, which the Uniparty Globalists on both sides of the Atlantic can’t get enough of.

      Yesterday, I said that Donald Trump represented the signal within the noise, but you know who else is proving to do that with every fresh Crisis the Globalist war machine attempts to spin up? Vladimir Putin. Honestly, lately, if you swapped out the quotes of one for the other, you’d have a very difficult time telling them apart. Many of us refer to Donald Trump as, ‘The Peacemaker,’ and while I believe that’s true, it takes two (or more) sides to make war, and it takes two (or more) sides to end it.

      Focus on those calling for an end to the madness rather than those within the Establishment asserting new ways of managing or stoking it.” — Burning Bright

      Liked by 1 person

  20. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/scalise-jordan-republicans-nominate-speaker-rcna119452

    EXCERPT: “Republicans voted Wednesday to nominate Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., to be the next speaker of the House — but his path to the gavel remains uncertain, as he must still secure the votes of nearly every member of his party.

    Scalise, the No. 2 Republican in leadership, defeated Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, 113-99 in a secret ballot vote behind closed doors to win the party’s nomination. For years, Scalise has been viewed as an heir apparent to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted from power in an internal GOP revolt just a week ago.

    But because of the GOP’s razor-thin majority, there is no guarantee that Scalise can win the speaker’s gavel on the House floor. Just five Republicans have the power to block Scalise, meaning he will need to win the support of at least 217 of the 221 Republicans.

    “Obviously, we still have work to do. We’re going to have to go upstairs on the House floor and resolve this and then get the House opened again,” Scalise told reporters after the vote. “We see how dangerous of a world it is and how things can change so quickly. We need to make sure we are sending a message to people all throughout the world that the House is open and doing the people’s business.” The House’s first action under a “Speaker Scalise,” he said, will be to pass a resolution in support of Israel.

    A sense of uncertainty hung over Republicans immediately after the vote to nominate Scalise, with one defiant supporter of Jordan saying immediately that she won’t back Scalise. “I’m voting for Jim Jordan on the floor,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. — NBC News

    Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., a longtime McCarthy critic, told NBC News he’s “undecided” about whether to vote for Scalise on the floor, calling him a “status quo” candidate given his long-standing support for McCarthy as his former deputy. “It’s hard to envision that he will be a change agent. I think the country recognizes the Congress needs to be changed,” Good said.

    Other Republicans have openly raised concerns about Scalise’s health and whether he’s up for the job, which requires long hours and traveling around the country. In August, he announced that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, and that he was receiving treatment.

    Notably, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the chief McCarthy antagonist who triggered the vote to evict him, said he’ll support Scalise and encourage other right-leaning Republicans to do the same, calling him an upgrade over McCarthy in every way…”

    Liked by 1 person

  21. someone needs to teach economics to these people rather than pandering 101…$50 an hour minimum wage!
    FTA
    California Rep. Barbara Lee thinks U.S. minimum-wage workers should earn a six-figure income, a proposal made Sunday evening during a Democratic Senate candidate forum as she sought to draw a contrast with her opponents in a tightly bunched field.

    Ms. Lee, who’s running against fellow Democratic Reps. Adam B. Schiff and Katie Porter for the seat of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, said the federal minimum wage should be $50 per hour — or $104,000 per year.
    The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, or roughly $15,000 per year. California’s minimum wage is one of the highest in the nation at $15.50 per hour, or about $32,200 annually, but will increase to $16 next year. The state is raising its hourly minimum wage to $20 next year for fast food workers, or $41,600 per year.

    https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2023/10/11/the-favored-for-senate-ca-rep-barbara-lee-in-trouble-jumps-the-shark-n2164946

    Like

  22. Well, the wind has come up again so I had to close the patio door. Since GT hasn’t shown up yet, I propped open the doggie door…the latch is broken on the exterior door so I keep it closed with a bungee cord….

    Like

    1. you’re sooo smart!!

      I was thinking…at Marica’s they have different pages…wonder if we could do that? have a place for recipes for easier retrieval–but also one for household stuff. and if you ever decide to write about how to repurpose stuff we could have a “file” so to speak for that too? since you seem reluctant to do a whole wp site yet of your own…
      dumb idea?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. No, it’s not a dumb idea at all….it’s just such an ad hoc kind of thing – I address it when it comes up and don’t always think about how I did it or writing the process down….but I could start a document on re-purposing, maybe common sense fixes, and keep adding to it, see where it goes, what it turns into….we’ll see – maybe the mood will hit me one of these days. LOL

        Liked by 1 person

        1. even if it’s done post by post, i thought the separate page might be a good way to keep the all in the same place and you could add to it when the whim strikes you? I mean we would post it like regular and then move it or copy it (?) to the separate page for easy reference? dunno
          i will do some more thinking on this after i finish the stocking and after all the upcoming traveling.

          Liked by 1 person

    1. i was contemplating which one (of three not that purple one) when i saw the dog poster one…..i DID SPIT coffee everywhere…
      you owe me yet another keyboard…LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      1. When you get down to it, if they are Islamists, they are all the same: vicious animals, IMO! Can’t ignore Turkey, either!

        Liked by 1 person

  29. Huh…nope, sorry! If you are an American citizen and CHOOSE to live in Gaza, do NOT now expect our troops to save your asses!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  30. on our way to walmart, we stopped at an outdoor equipment place because they carry the brand of log splitter hubby wanted. they only had one in stock–a 22 ton one! it had its own hitch to be towed along behind something…LOL.
    we were looking for a 6 ton one! anyway, I asked if they could order one for us and the salesman said, it’s best if you order it yourself online. if YOU order it, the company ships it to you for FREE–if we do it? they charge us freight which we add to the price. that was nice of him.
    next spring we are having them come get our 4 wheelers to get running–in the spring, the guy said, they run a free “we’ll come get them” promotion. nice guy!

    so i just spent the last half hour or so walking hubby thru on line shopping stuff…LOL

    Liked by 1 person

              1. lol not really. he said they would come and pick them up…lol
                neither one starts as of now. so we have no way to get them anywhere. and the small engine places won’t tow.

                Liked by 1 person

              2. It is good psychology, tho….think about it! I’m not saying HE was intentionally doing that but it worked out that way, right? You were certainly more favorable in your opinion of him already, I expect, and that just sealed the deal and made up your mind. If all goes well with the next step (the 4-wheelers), they will now have new customers for life. It is a part of sales training.

                Like

  31. leik
    leik
    October 12, 2023 10:50 am

    Breaking: NEWSMAX’s National Correspondent @Logan_Ratick reports that sources say Steve Scalise cannot secure the 217 votes needed to become Speaker of the House, and is expected to withdraw from the race. pic.twitter.com/bBW7Pt9quM

    — NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) October 12, 2023

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Rain, rain and more rain…just had a downpour so heavy it sounded like a train running across the patio roof and I expected to see some hail, some of which is predicted. Still no sign of GT but I can’t blame her for hunkering down in that kind of rain!!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. They don’t specify but I get the overall impression this is for one person and yes, whether you own your own home, like I do and your Mom does (I assume she does), the expenses would be lower. Likewise, healthcare costs – I have none whereas anything beyond basic Medicare hospitalization requires some payment coming out of SS payments. It is going to vary not only by location, of course.

        “To determine the annual retirement costs for Americans aged 65 and older in each state, the study used Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates for food, shelter, transportation, health care and utility costs. An additional cash buffer of 20% of that total was added to ensure that retirees would be “comfortable,” according to the study.”

        Liked by 1 person


  37. “The European Union (EU) spent $100 million of taxpayer funds on building over 30 miles of water pipelines for Palestinians in Gaza, despite Hamas having bragged about their ability to turn the piping materials into makeshift rockets online. The EU participated in a number of initiatives between 2015 and 2022 to ensure Palestinians have fresh water, including working alongside UNICEF to install an 11-mile pipeline to Khan Yunus and Raha in southern Gaza.

    Footage emerged, in 2021, of Hamas fighters digging up the pipes and fashioning them into rockets to launch over the border into Israel. Despite this, the EU bankrolled another 10 miles of pipelines in 2022. The main missile used by Hamas – an internationally recognized “terrorist organization” – is the Qassam rocket, which is assembled using industrial piping along with chemicals and explosives.

    “There must be prudent security assessments before giving taxpayers’ money to Palestinian organizations for infrastructure that can be utilized for military ends by Hamas terrorists,” argued Frank Furedi, executive director of the MCC Brussels think tank. “Those running EU diplomacy are naive,” he added.”

    Liked by 1 person

  44. Well, my, my! I hate to say it…I really do…but I have to applaud Anthony Blinken for the way he just handled some loaded questions from the press. I have to admit that it was impressive. He just gave a press conference and a couple of them tried to turn the focus to the Fakestinian people and he slammed that door shut immediately…I mean, in a nanosecond! Talking about following international law like other democracies around the world unlike terrorist organizations like Hamas

    “…which absolutely have no regard for the rule of law, for humanitarian rules and rights, for any basic standards of human decency. On the contrary, as we were just discussing a few minutes ago, they fight literally against liberty, they target civilians and not just target civilians…target them in the most inhumane ways possible…um…and at the same time, use them as human shields. So that’s a profound distinction between our countries and a group like Hamas. When it comes to the photographs and videos…I described what I saw today, that doesn’t mean it’s the entire universe… we saw some photographs and videos…Unfortunately, there are many, many, many others and every day, the world is seeing new evidence of the depravity and the inhumanity of Hamas. A depravity and inhumanity directed at babies, at small children, at young adults, at elderly people, at people with disabilities….the list goes on. On a basic human level, how anyone cannot be revolted and cannot reject what they’ve seen, what the world has seen? It’s beyond me. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

  45. US airlines have suspended flights into Israel; Kirby announced the State Dept. is setting up charter flights, as well as working out overland avenues out of Israel. But this guy (duel citizen couple) is complaining that the flights will be on Shabat so they can’t fly out…WTF??!!?? Seriously??? GTFO!!! Your lives are on the line, idiots!!!

    Liked by 1 person

      1. No, I didn’t – one of the reporters asked Kirby if the flights would be free – he redirected her to the State Dept., saying they were still getting the program organized. His excuse for not moving sooner was the numbers of US dual citizens was much higher than other countries that were already flying their people out.

        Like

  47. In all of the questioning on this issue, no-one brings up the fact that even IF (and that’s a huge “if” since Qatar is corrupt thru-and-thru) Iran can’t actually get it’s hands on that money, it still frees up whatever few $$$’s they were spending themselves ostensibly for “humanitarian” purposes. Ergo, more $$$ to support jihad.

    Liked by 1 person

  48. NF: I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find this is real and not satire!!!

    “Powerful: ‘Justice For Palestine’ Spray-Painted On Freshly Looted Nike Store”
    U.S. · Oct 12, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    PHILADELPHIA, PA — In a beautiful display of solidarity between oppressed people groups, Black Lives Matter has spray painted the words “Justice for Palestine” on the front of a Nike store they just looted.

    “We demand freedom for the Palestinians!” shouted one looter as he kicked his way through the broken glass of the store’s entrance. “As a sign to show how passionate we are about a free Palestine, we are here to destroy this local business and steal all the Air Jordans! WOOOOOO!”

    BLM has made controversial statements and social media posts in support of the efforts of the terrorist organization Hamas following its shocking attacks on Israeli civilians. “The voice of colonized peoples must be heard!” screamed another BLM activist as he threw a brick through the windshield of a police cruiser responding to the looting. “By destroying businesses in our own neighborhoods, we send a very clear message that Israeli hostilities toward the poor, downtrodden Palestinians will no longer be tolerated! And kill whitey!”

    Media and the general public alike were unsure what connection this new wave of riots and looting had with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “I think they just want to steal stuff,” said onlooker Zach Lewis. “Taking iPhones, Air Jordans, and cases of vodka doesn’t seem like it’s going to help the Palestinian cause in any way. But, hey, they sure seem passionate about stealing!”

    At publishing time, BLM organizations across the country were reported to be purchasing large numbers of paragliders as a means of improving their ability to swoop in for more looting and destruction in American cities.”

    Liked by 1 person

  49. “Lindsey Graham Calls On The United States To Bomb Every Country In The World”
    POLITICS · Oct 12, 2023 · BabylonBee.com

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — As tensions escalate in the Middle East following the deadly terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham sought to resolve the conflict and restore peace to the region by calling for the United States to begin bombing every country in the world.

    “It’s the only solution,” Graham said to reporters while advocating for even more hostilities. “If we want to restore peace throughout the world, the only realistic answer is to lay waste to every single nation around the globe.”

    “What about nations that have no involvement in the conflict?” asked reporter Michael Fuller.

    “They’re all involved,” Graham answered. “Bomb ‘em all. Gone. All of ‘em. Bombs, bombs, bombs. Burn it all down, baby!”

    “What about Paris?” Fuller asked.

    “Have you seen the demographics of their population?” Graham responded. “Bomb ‘em.”

    “Montreal?” Fuller pressed.

    “Make it a parking lot,” Graham said resolutely.

    “Tokyo?” Fuller asked, finally.

    “Glass the place,” Graham answered.

    When asked what he expected to be the result of so much widespread bombing, Graham was indifferent. “They’ll all know who’s boss,” he said. “Nothing will stabilize the entire world and ensure the safety of the American people like making every single country in the world hate the United States. On top of all that, some of us will also make massive amounts of money, so I’m very much in favor of this idea.”

    At publishing time, Graham had reportedly already made a series of phone calls to the Pentagon to inquire about how many “gigantic nukes” the U.S. currently has on hand.”

    Liked by 1 person

  50. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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