Is a common Potoo an owl?
Is a common Potoo an owl?
Common potoos are 34–38 cm long with molted red-brown, white, black, and grey cryptic plumage. This disruptive coloration allows the potoo to camouflage into branches. The sexes appear similar, and cannot be distinguished upon observation. The eyes can appear as giant black dots with a small yellow ring, or as giant yellow irises with small pupils due to voluntary pupil constriction. The potoo has two to three slits in the eyelid so that it can see when the eyelids are closed; these notches are always open. The upper and lower eyelids can be moved independently and rotated so that the bird may adjust its field of vision. The common potoo has an unusually wide mouth with a tooth in its upper mandible for foraging purposes.
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Photo By Ibis Damién Guzmán Méndez , used under CC-BY-SA-4.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Nightjars and Relatives Family
Potoos Genus
Potoos Species
Common Potoo