Order
Caprimulgiformes
Family
Nyctibiidae
Genus
Nyctibius
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Common Potoo Nyctibius griseus

Peter Voudouris
Version: 1.0 — Published October 9, 2015

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Vocalizations

Common Potoo vocalizes chiefly at night, most especially on moonlit nights. The song of Common Potoo is described by many as one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds of the American tropics. This song consists of up to 8 melancholy and wailing or lamenting descending notes, which start loud and gradually drop in pitch in sliding steps as it fades in volume. This song is transcribed as BU-OH, BU-ou, bu-ou, bu-oo, bu-aw…. (Hilty 2013) or as Waaoo, woo-woo-wooh-wuuh (Lane, in Schulenberg et al. 2013).

For a representative audio recording with sonogram, see audio

Nestlings may give a hoarse buzzing call when fed by an adult (Skutch 1970).

Additional audio recordings of vocalizations of Common Potoo can be heard at Macaulay Library, at xeno-canto, and at Internet Bird Collection.

Nonvocal Sounds

Common Potoos may snap the beak audibly when threatened (Skutch 1983).

Recommended Citation

Voudouris, P. (2015). Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.compot1.01