Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Material on this page was provided by Paul Smith, Rob Clay, Pedro Hostettler, Sjeff Ollers, Nelson Pérez, Marcelo Bombaci
and Arne Lesterhuis and is used with permission.
COMMON POTOO Nyctibius griseus
The famous Urutaú, its call a wailing lament, is one of the most haunting sounds of the Paraguayan night. This nocturnal bird closely related to the Nightjars (Caprimulgidae) is truly one of the strangest members of the Paraguayan avifauna. By day he poses on a broken tree stump with eyes closed and head raised, his remarkable camouflage rendering him invisible to all but the keenest eyes, by night he merges to hunt moths and insects flying from a prominent perch.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1 - (FPAVE3781PH) Adult lateral, PN Médanos del Chaco, Departamento Boquerón (Marcelo Bombaci October 2007).
FIGURE 2 - (FPAVE3782PH) Adult ventral, Aguara Ñu, Mbaracayú Forest Reserve (Rob Clay November 1997).
FIGURE 3 - (FPAVE3783PH) Adult, Itabó Itaipú Reserve, Departamento Alto Paraná (Paul Smith September 2006).
FIGURE 4 - (FPAVE3784PH) Adult roosting dorsal view, Aguara Ñu, Mbaracayú Biosphere Reserve, Departamento Canindeyú (Arne Lesterhuis undated).
FIGURE 5 - (FPAVE3785PH) Adult dorsal, Itabó Itaipú, Departamento Alto Paraná (Nelson Pérez October 2009).
FIGURE 6 - (FPAVE3786PH) Adult lateral, PN San Rafael, Departamento Itapúa (Sjeff Ollers October 2009).
FIGURE 7 - (FPAVE3787PH) Adult, Estancia Laguna Blanca, Departamento San Pedro (Paul Smith November 2005).
FIGURE 8 - (FPAVE3788PH) Upperwing same individual as (FPAVE3788PH) (Paul Smith November 2005).
FIGURE 9 - (FPAVE3789PH) Adult and nestling at nest, PROCOSARA PN San Rafael (Pedro Hostettler undated).
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Nyctibius griseus
1 (FPAVE3790RE) song recorded PROCOSARA PN San Rafael (Paul Smith January 2009).
Click the link to hear the call. Longer versions of this call can be downloaded from the Paraguay page of our partner website Xeno-Canto - the largest collection of freely downloadable Neotropical bird calls available online.
Gallery 2 - Nyctibius griseus nest
A nest of this elusive and charismatic species was found on 21 November 2012 in a forest island on the road to Isla Alta, near the town of Coronel Bogado, Departamento Itapúa. An adult bird was sitting incubating a single white egg with brownish purple flecks. The nest was located in the top part of a rotting fence stump at a height of 175cm, with cup dimensions 75 x 85 mm. The cup was unlined. Egg dimensions were 43 x 29mm. All photos by Paul Smith.

FIGURE 2a - (FPAVE3791PH) Sitting bird.
FIGURE 2b - (FPAVE3792PH) Nest location.
FIGURE 2c - (FPAVE3793PH) Nest lateral.
FIGURE 2d - (FPAVE3794PH) Nest cup.
FIGURE 2e - (FPAVE3795PH) Egg.
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