noun

• A nocturnal insectivorous bird resembling a large nightjar, found in tropical America.

  Genus Nyctibius and family Nyctibiidae: five species, in particular the common potoo (N. griseus)

  ‘That night trip also yielded a highland tinamou, two Virginia opossums and - after half an hour spent staring at a yellow eye in a distant tree - what turned out to be a potoo.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘A distant relative of the whippoorwill, the potoo feeds mainly at night, opening its short, curved bill very wide to sweep up flying insects.’
  • ‘White-winged potoo, a large, very rare nocturnal bird; Iwokrama is one of the best places for spotting this species’