SUMMARY:

Common Potoos are champions of camouflage. In the daytime, these nocturnal creatures perch perfectly still on branches: heads pointed upward, bodies outstretched, and eyes closed down to tiny slits. It’s hard to tell where the branch ends, and the bird’s body begins — which helps them avoid predators. They’re birds more often heard than seen, with a melodious but mournful song, made at dawn, dusk, and by the light of the moon. The song earned potoos the name ‘Poor-me-one’ in Trinidad and Tobago.

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