All birds/Nyctibiidae/Northern Potoo
AI reconstruction of Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis)AI

AI reconstruction created with Nano Banana 2 · 1K, grounded in the profile’s documented taxonomy, habitat, natural-history sources, and an open-license visual reference when available. It is an interpretive image, not documentary evidence. Image policy

Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis)
Verified source photographBlair DudeckCC-BY · View source
PRB-0060Nyctibiiformes

Northern Potoo

Nictibio Norteño

Nyctibius jamaicensis

Accidental / vagrantIUCN LC · Least Concern

The northern potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis) is a nocturnal bird belonging to the potoo family, Nyctibiidae. It is found from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and on the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti). It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the common potoo (Nyctibius griseus) but is now usually treated as a separate species based on differences in vocalizations.

FamilyNyctibiidaePotoos
Puerto Rico occurrenceAccidental / vagrantAvibase inferred core 380
Primary habitatforestsForest
Primary dietInvertebrateInvertivore
Average mass260.425 gGlobal trait estimate
MovementSedentary / residentInsessorial

Sound archive

Hear its voice

Explore real songs and calls. The spectrogram turns each sound into a visual trace of time and frequency.

XC467214Recording 1 of 3song
Spectrogram of Northern Potoo: song
SpectrogramNyctibius jamaicensis

Play: song by Carlos Venegas-Elizondo

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Sound recorded by Carlos Venegas-Elizondo · XC467214 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Visualization by Stichting Xeno-canto voor Natuurgeluiden.

Every recording retains the creator, catalogue number, and license published by Xeno-canto. Metadata via GBIF

Island profile

Catalog scopeAvibase inferred core 380

About the Northern Potoo

The northern potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis) is a nocturnal bird belonging to the potoo family, Nyctibiidae. It is found from Mexico south to Costa Rica, and on the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola (in the Dominican Republic and Haiti). It was formerly classified as a subspecies of the common potoo (Nyctibius griseus) but is now usually treated as a separate species based on differences in vocalizations.

Conservation

Least Concern

IUCN LC

Global IUCN
LC
Puerto Rico DNER
No current listing in source crosswalk
Federal ESA
No current listing in source crosswalk
Critical habitat
Not identified in source crosswalk

Natural history

How it lives

Habitat
forests
Elevation
0–1500 m
Nest
Scrape · Stump
Clutch
1–1 eggs
Social behavior
Solitary

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This bird belongs to 6 paths through the atlas.

Evidence trail

Sources, media & further reading