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ALBy day, it looks like a dead tree stump. By night, it’s a bug-eyed predator with a mouth large enough to swallow prey whole. Meet the Great Potoo, the “ghost bird” of the Central and South American rainforests.
The Nyctibius grandis is a master of camouflage, using its mottled feathers to hide in plain sight. But its most unsettling feature? Giant, ping-pong-ball-sized eyes that take up most of its skull. Thanks to abnormal slits in its eyelids, the Potoo can actually sense movement and watch for predators even while its eyes are completely shut. When the sun goes down, it lets out a haunting, raspy wail before launching from its perch to vacuum up unsuspecting insects mid-air.
See photos of the Great Potoo and eight other of the world’s scariest birds at the link in our bio.
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