The Story
I photographed this Great Potoo (Nyctibius grandis) at Ecohotel La Fortuna in Yopal, Casanare, Colombia. It is nocturnal and is best known for its moaning growl at night. It lives mostly in dense lowland forest, forest edges and clearings. By day it usually perches high in big trees, often more than 12 meters above the ground. It hunts large insects and small vertebrates in sallies from high perches, and it almost always returns to the same perch. The branches it chooses are usually 20 to 30 centimeters thick. Yopal is the capital of Casanare.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/25 sec, f/5.6, ISO 51200. IUCN lists the Great Potoo as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Great Potoo (Nyctibius grandis) belongs to the family Nyctibiidae (Potoos) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
