Northern Potoo 17 Jun 2018 Mexico © Roberto González (CC BY-NC 4.0)
The Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis) has very recently been discovered in a forest in the Sierra Maestra mountains in the municipality of Pilon. It was found to be doing well in the area and even a nest with an egg was discovered.
The Northern Potoo is a nocturnal bird that feeds on insects and by day it camouflages very well by pretending to be a blind branch in a tree. It is found in Hispaniola, Jamaica and Central America while It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus) and from which based on external characters it is very similar, but since 1995 it has been treated as a separate species based on the great difference in vocalizations. Oddly, the bird is not mentioned in The Birds of Cuba (Garrido & Kirkconnell, 2000).
In Cuba there have been few confirmed records going back to the 19th century. In 1997 El Chino, a well-known guide from the Zapata Swamp, obtained Potoo feathers but no adults were observed in the wild.
In January 2001, G. M. Flieg and Guy M. Kirwan conducted nocturnal surveys in eastern Cuba. Just before sunset on 5 January, a Northern Potoo was observed, briefly, atop a telegraph pole beside the road east of Siboney, Santiago de Cuba province. The bird then flew across the road into an area of xerophytic vegetation on a hillside, characterized by tall columnar cacti, emergent palms, and 1-3 m–tall scrub. It was lost from sight and no further observations were made at this site. Further, on 10 January 2001, Kirwan heard the distinctive song of the Potoo in a similar area of xerophytic scrub on the coast, south of Baitiquirí, Guantánamo province. This individual was not seen. The habitat in which these two records were collected is similar to that in which the species is most frequently encountered in Hispaniola (Kirwan, pers. obs.).
Later, in 2003, Maikel Prieto a resident of Holguín Province donated a dead bird specimen to a museum, initially believing it to be a Cuban Nightjar. However, upon closer examination, Nils Navarro realized that it was actually a Potoo. Shortly after, another specimen was collected by the same person and donated to the museum. In 2020, Maikel alerted Nils Navarro to a live specimen that had been injured by locals in the same Province. A photo of this bird exists.
A few days ago (Feb 2025) a connoisseur of birds and nature in general, alerted bird-watchers to the presence of a Northern Potoo near his house and a group of the Avila Birdwatchers Club and the Granma Birdwatchers Club went to the place to confirm the sighting with photos, videos and audios. A huge well done to all those involved in this discovery.
The Northern Potoo is a nocturnal bird that feeds on insects and by day it camouflages very well by pretending to be a blind branch in a tree. It is found in Hispaniola, Jamaica and Central America while It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the Common Potoo (Nyctibius griseus) and from which based on external characters it is very similar, but since 1995 it has been treated as a separate species based on the great difference in vocalizations. Oddly, the bird is not mentioned in The Birds of Cuba (Garrido & Kirkconnell, 2000).
In Cuba there have been few confirmed records going back to the 19th century. In 1997 El Chino, a well-known guide from the Zapata Swamp, obtained Potoo feathers but no adults were observed in the wild.
In January 2001, G. M. Flieg and Guy M. Kirwan conducted nocturnal surveys in eastern Cuba. Just before sunset on 5 January, a Northern Potoo was observed, briefly, atop a telegraph pole beside the road east of Siboney, Santiago de Cuba province. The bird then flew across the road into an area of xerophytic vegetation on a hillside, characterized by tall columnar cacti, emergent palms, and 1-3 m–tall scrub. It was lost from sight and no further observations were made at this site. Further, on 10 January 2001, Kirwan heard the distinctive song of the Potoo in a similar area of xerophytic scrub on the coast, south of Baitiquirí, Guantánamo province. This individual was not seen. The habitat in which these two records were collected is similar to that in which the species is most frequently encountered in Hispaniola (Kirwan, pers. obs.).
Later, in 2003, Maikel Prieto a resident of Holguín Province donated a dead bird specimen to a museum, initially believing it to be a Cuban Nightjar. However, upon closer examination, Nils Navarro realized that it was actually a Potoo. Shortly after, another specimen was collected by the same person and donated to the museum. In 2020, Maikel alerted Nils Navarro to a live specimen that had been injured by locals in the same Province. A photo of this bird exists.
A few days ago (Feb 2025) a connoisseur of birds and nature in general, alerted bird-watchers to the presence of a Northern Potoo near his house and a group of the Avila Birdwatchers Club and the Granma Birdwatchers Club went to the place to confirm the sighting with photos, videos and audios. A huge well done to all those involved in this discovery.
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