I remember first hearing about and seeing these birds on David Attenborough's Life of Birds. I was amazed at how much they could look like a broken-off stump of a tree, that they have huge eyes, and the fact that their eye-lids have a small hitch in them that allows them to see (to some degree) while keeping their eye's closed in order to maintain their camouflage. This was certainly a bird I was very excited to see in Trinidad, and we were quite lucky, as this one on the grounds of the Asa Wright Nature Center was pretty easy to see. I'd often heard stories of people looking directly at these birds at a very close range, without being able to really see or distinguish them from the branch they were on. Thankfully it wasn't the case for us. (Although who knows how many others I might have looked at without seeing!)
More info on these fascinating birds can be found here.
Sadly, I think this might be one of my last BPWs with photos from our trip to Trinidad & Tobago. I fear that I am beginning to become a bit redundant with ones I'd already posted in other parts of this blog. The good thing is that spring is finally starting to poke it's head out of the ground here in New England, and hopefully I start getting more shots of our birds in New England as the come in and through.
7 comments:
Great shot, Chris! Potoos are similar to Frogmouths in my country (the Philippines). They perch upright (unlike nighthawks) and remain motionless for long periods of time.
This an interesting bird! The Potoo is exactly as you describe - I wondered what I was looking at first. Glad you were able to see one.
Awesome Potoo capture Chris! I want to thank you for posting all the interesting photos and stories on your T&T trip. I, for one, have decided to definitely do a tropical birding trip in the near future based on your great experiences there.
Great - never saw those before!
Excellent shots!
Cheers, Klaus
That's a cool bird and you have captured it nicely!
Awesome rare pics! never saw before......
Great captures of the potoo, Christopher! I for one wouldn't mind at all seeing more of those T&T shots -- even rehashes of what you've already posted. That just looks and sounds like a fantastic trip!
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