Birdfinding.info ⇒ Locally common in several parts of its large range. On Jamaica consistent sites include Rocklands Bird Sanctuary, Windsor, Stewart Town, Marshall’s Pen, Hardwar Gap, and Green Castle Estate in Robin’s Bay. In the D.R., it can be found west of Barahona on Santa Elena Road and along the lower part of Alcoa Road. In Mexico, consistent sites include San Blas (Nayarit), El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (Tamaulipas), Palenque (Chiapas), and Xocén Reserve (Yucatán). Central American sites where it is often found include: Tikal National Park in Guatemala; the Negroman area in Belize; Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge and Blue Harbour Tropical Arboretum (on Roatán Island) in Honduras; and Isla Juan Venado and Montibelli Reserves in Nicaragua.
Northern Potoo
Nyctibius jamaicensis
Tropical lowlands of Middle America and the West Indies.
Inhabits various wooded and semiopen habitats, including tropical forests, mangroves, savannas, agricultural land, and settled areas. Typically feeds at woodland edge or in forest canopy.
In Middle America, occurs in lowlands and foothills of both slopes from Mexico (Sinaloa and Nuevo León) south to northern Costa Rica, including all of the Yucatán Peninsula, Cozumel, and the Honduran Bay Islands (Utila, Roatán, and Guanaja).
In the West Indies, resident on Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola and Gonâve Island. Its presence on Cuba was confirmed only in the 1990s, and the extent of its distribution there is not fully understood, but it has been recorded from several areas in both the west and the east. On Jamaica, it is widespread in diverse habitats, including forests, towns, hotel grounds, golf courses, and open agricultural land, where it uses fenceposts and utility poles as hunting perches. On Hispaniola, it is known mainly from the foothills of the Sierra de Bahoruco and the east-central Dominican Republic, but probably occurs more widely in areas that are not well surveyed.
There are records of vagrants from the smaller islands Desecheo and Mona, west and east of Hispaniola, which indicates a propensity for dispersal over water and helps explain its presence on so many islands.
Identification
A large potoo that varies widely in color and pattern. Some are mostly gray mixed with black and white; others have variable amounts of brown and rusty highlights.
The upperparts are especially variable. In general, they are heavily mottled for camouflage and have narrow but distinct black latitudinal streaks, especially on the head and back. Most individuals show dark “braces” or rows of blackish blotches on the sides of the back, and a warmer shade of brown on the wing coverts.
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, frozen in a camouflage position—note the row of black blotches on the side of the back next to the warmer brown wing coverts. (Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, Honduras; March 7, 2016.) © Todd Fellenbaum
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, adult frozen in a camouflage position, with chick—note the black “brace” on the side of the adult’s back, and the somewhat warmer brown wing coverts. (José María Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico; April 18, 2019.) © Juan Bou Riquer
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, frozen in a camouflage position. (Zentla, Veracruz, Mexico; April 19, 2019.) © Macario Fernández Popo
Northern Potoo, N. j. abbotti, alert. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; June 6, 2014.) © Alberto Rojas
Northern Potoo, N. j. lambi, an usually pale individual (possibly an immature) with its bill open in a monstrous grin, showing the strongly hooked tip and the depth of its gape. (San Ignacio, Sinaloa, Mexico; October 8, 2017.) © Rancho las Palomas
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, a brownish individual—note the row of black blotches on the side of the back next to the warmer brown wing coverts. (Emiliano Zapata, Veracruz, Mexico; August 6, 2014.) © Alberto Lobato
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, adult with chick—note the adult’s mostly black and white coloration with a rusty portion limited to the wings and back. (Montibelli Private Reserve, Nicaragua; September 1, 2012.) © Jeffrey Roth
Northern Potoo, N. j. jamaicensis—note the rusty bar on the wing coverts. (Green Castle Estate, Robin’s Bay, Jamaica; November 5, 2013.) © Alan Van Norman
Northern Potoo, N. j. costaricensis, a dark individual. (Cerro Grande, Guanacaste, Costa Rica; September 26, 2015.) © Jorge Obando Gutierrez
Northern Potoo, N. j. lambi, an individual with minimal contrast on the upperparts. (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico; April 8, 2015.) © Nigel Voaden
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, an unusually pale individual frozen in a camouflage position—note the subtly brownish wing coverts. (Montibelli Private Reserve, Nicaragua; March 12, 2017.) © George Duriaux
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, an unusually pale individual—note the row of black blotches on the side of the back and tan wash on the wing coverts. (Chaa Creek, Belize; April 10, 2018.) © Nate Brown
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, showing a bold black whisker mark and strongly contrasting pattern on the upperparts. (Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico; November 16, 2018.) © Rolando Chávez
Northern Potoo, N. j. lambi, frozen in a camouflage position. (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico; March 4, 2015.) © Gary Howard
The underparts are less variable than the upperparts, usually pale gray overall and finely mottled with thin black streaks. Most have a necklace or bib of black blotches on the upper chest, often distributed irregularly.
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, frozen in a camouflage position. (Ranchería San Francisco, Chiapas, Mexico; May 17, 2013.) © Felipe Giron
Northern Potoo, N. j. jamaicensis, frozen in a camouflage position, apparently mimicking the shape of the fencepost—also note the isolated black blotches on the breast. (Windsor, Jamaica; September 24, 2006.) © Jan van den Broeck
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, with a strong blackish whisker mark and a bib of black blotches on the chest. (Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico; March 19, 2012.) © Rolando Chávez
Northern Potoo, N. j. lambi, showing irregular black blotches on the chest. (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico; February 4, 2017.) © Ken Chamberlain
Northern Potoo, N. j. jamaicensis, ventral view showing pale gray underparts with black streaks. (Marshall’s Pen, Jamaica; March 12, 2016.) © Ted D. Center
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, an unusually rusty individual, frozen in a camouflage position. (Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico; June 20, 2018.) © Roberto González
Northern Potoo, N. j. jamaicensis, frozen in a camouflage position, showing typical grayish underparts coloration with thin black streaks. (Rocklands Bird Sanctuary, Jamaica; July 9, 2001.) © Lars Petersson
Northern Potoo, N. j. abbotti, showing irregular bib of black blotches. (Sierra de Bahoruco, Dominican Republic; December 22, 2018.) © Juan Alberto Taveras
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, a contrasty individual with a disheveled appearance—possibly a juvenile. (Othón P. Blanco, Quintana Roo, Mexico; July 10, 2017.) © Iván Castelllanos
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, frozen in a camouflage position, showing typical grayish underparts coloration with thin black streaks. (Aktun Chen Parque Natural, Quintana Roo, Mexico; March 10, 2004.) © Micheline Bisson
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, a predominantly gray individual with whitish-gray underparts. (Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico; May 9, 2016.) © Rolando Chávez
Northern Potoo, N. j. lambi, showing typical underparts coloration and pattern. (San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico; March 9, 2018.) © guyincognito
Chicks, fledglings, and juveniles are predominantly white with localized black markings.
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, chick preparing to fledge. (Gómez Farías, Tamaulipas, Mexico; June 17, 2018.) © Roberto González
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, adult with nervous-looking chick. (Texaquito López, Petén, Guatemala; April 29, 2018.) © Jorge Dangel
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, juvenile, showing typically white plumage with localized black markings, apparently learning to freeze in a camouflage position. (Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, Mexico; May 24, 2019.) © David Marroquin Perez
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, juvenile, showing typically white plumage with localized black markings. (Texaquito López, Petén, Guatemala; May 5, 2018.) © Carlos Echeverría
Northern Potoo, N. j. mexicanus, downy chick. (Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico; April 23, 2016.) © Marcela Om
Voice. Typical call is a drawn-out, guttural croak, BAAAAAAAAAH, usually followed by a brief series of one to four quicker, inflected grunts or yips:
The long croak is highly consistent across numerous individuals recorded in many parts of its range. In contrast, the grunts or yips vary widely in number, length, tone, inflection, etc., but these differences do not appear correlated with particular populations. Just within Jamaica, for example, the available recordings of these sounds vary widely.
Also gives sharp, raspy alarm calls.
Cf. Common Potoo. Northern and Common Potoos occur near one another in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. They are essentially identical by sight but vocally distinct. Northern’s primary call is a long guttural croak, whereas Common’s is a smooth, mournful series of descending whistles.
Cf. Great Potoo. Northern and Great Potoos overlap from Chiapas to Costa Rica and resemble one another both visually and vocally. Both have guttural calls, but Northern typically gives a long, even-toned croak that is usually followed by much shorter bursts, whereas Great barks repeatedly and its voice is smoother and more resonant.
Visually, Great is larger and proportionately larger-headed, but both are large and large-headed, so this difference is not always obvious. The key difference is in the upperparts, where Northern is mottled and streaked, whereas Great is typically pale and finely vermiculated. Young Northern Potoos are also very pale—but usually more ghostly whitish than Great Potoo, with contrasting black streaks.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of five recognized subspecies: lambi (western Mexico), mexicanus (eastern Mexico to Nicaragua), costaricensis (Nicaragua and Costa Rica), jamaicensis (Jamaica), and abbotti (Hispaniola and Gonâve). The newly discovered Cuban populations have not been ascribed to any of the recognized subspecies.
The mainland and West Indian subspecies seem inherently likely to be distinct forms or multiple species based on their geographical separation, but they lack clear, consistent differences in voice or appearance. On most characteristics, variability within subspecies appears to swamp any variability among them—so apart from location, there does not appear to be any characteristic that enables identification of a Northern Potoo at the subspecies level.
References
BirdLife International. 2016. Nyctibius jamaicensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22689642A93241022. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22689642A93241022.en. (Accessed September 17, 2019.)
Cleere, N., and D. Nurney. 1998. Nightjars: A Guide to Nightjars and Related Nightbirds. Pica Press, Sussex.
Cohn-Haft, M., and G.M. Kirwan. 2017. Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis). In Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D.A. Christie, and E. de Juana, eds.). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. http://www.hbw.com/node/55155. (Accessed September 17, 2019.)
eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed September 17, 2019.)
Fagan, J., and O. Komar. 2016. Peterson Field Guide to the Birds of Northern Central America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York.
Garrigues, R., and R. Dean. 2014. The Birds of Costa Rica: A Field Guide (Second Edition). Cornell University Press, Ithaca, N.Y.
Gu, D., R.A. Behrstock, and T.S. Schulenberg. 2014. Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T.S. Schulenberg, ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.norpot1.01.
Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Howell, S.N.G., and S. Webb. 1995. A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Latta, S., C. Rimmer, A. Keith, J. Wiley, H. Raffaele, K. McFarland, and E. Fernandez. 2006. Birds of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.