Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Northern Potoo (Nyctibius jamaicensis)Northern Potoo

Family Nyctibiidae

Northern Potoo

Nyctibius jamaicensis

In Spanish: Nictibio Norteño (Pájaro Estaca, Gozona)

  • Resident

A bark-coloured night bird that sleeps upright on stumps in the northwest.

The Northern Potoo is a large-headed, long-tailed nocturnal bird, about 38 cm long, with yellow eyes. By day it sleeps perched upright and motionless on a branch tip or snag, and its streaky grey-brown plumage makes it look like part of the wood.

In Costa Rica it is a bird of the northwest and centre of the country, on the Pacific slope. Costa Rica is the southern end of the species' range, so it is a northern specialty here rather than a bird of the whole country.

Finding one is a small piece of detective work: an odd shape on a branch tip by day, a hoarse call or a glowing eye by night.

How to find it

By day, look for an odd shape on a branch tip or a tree stump that seems to have a bird-like outline. It stands upright and stretched out, with its eyes almost closed. A potoo can sleep for several days on the same perch, and it often returns to the same daytime roost, so a spot found once is worth rechecking. At night, listen for the call and scan with a light for bright eye shine. Check perches near streetlamps next to good habitat. Potoos in Costa Rica are not super common and live at low density, so patience matters.

How to recognise it

This is a large-headed, long-tailed nocturnal bird, about 38 cm long, with yellow eyes. Its streaky grey-brown plumage camouflages it against bark. Across its range it shows pale cheeks with a dark stripe below them, a mark that helps separate it from the Great Potoo, which is larger and paler and has no dark stripe on the cheek. The large yellow eye can shine red in light at night, which is often how the bird gives itself away. By day the bird is usually seen on a tree stump that it seems to be part of, standing upright and stretched out with its eyes almost closed.

What it sounds like

0:04

Recording: cello caruso-turiello, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

By day it sleeps perched upright and motionless on a branch tip or snag, relying on its bark-like camouflage. At night it perches on an exposed post, trunk or branch and flies out to catch insects. It calls to socialise, and it often goes back to the same daytime roost. Across its range it is very active at night. One author found that a potoo's stillness and colour hide it even from trained eyes, and that when he shook the thin trunk the bird moved its wings.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in tropical lowlands, in places with scattered trees or open scrubby areas. The Costa Rican form, subspecies costaricensis, lives in the northwest and centre of the country, on the Pacific slope of the north and centre. It has been photographed in the Área de Conservación Guanacaste, at the Los Almendros biological station in the El Hacha sector, and at Cerro Grande, Belén de Carrillo, in Guanacaste. Across its range it prefers open country with a few trees, and also forest and woodland edges. Locally it uses mangroves.

Similar birds

It looks nearly identical to the Common Potoo, and in Costa Rica the two are told apart by voice and by range. The Common Potoo is more a bird of rivers and mangroves from Carara south to Panama. The darkest Northern Potoos in northern Costa Rica can look like the palest Common Potoos of southern Costa Rica. The Great Potoo is larger and paler and has no dark stripe on the cheek.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

The AOCR list gives the Costa Rican nicknames pájaro estaca and gozona. Spanish sources also list pájaro estaca norteño, pecuy and tapacamino. Stake bird (pájaro estaca) refers to how it perches upright like a post.

Status and conservation

The official Costa Rican bird list classes it as a resident, and the IUCN rates it Least Concern.

Photography tips

Look for an odd shape on a branch tip by day, when the bird sits still and upright. At night, listen first, then check perches near streetlamps next to good habitat. Its eye shine can glow red in light, which helps you find it in the dark.

How we know this 15 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Birds of the World read 2026-11-04https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/norpot1/cur/systematics?lang=es
  2. Área de Conservación Guanacaste read 2026-11-04https://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/paginas-de-especies/insectos-2/6280-i-nyctibius-jamaicensis-i-nyctibiidae
  3. Holistic Birding read 2026-11-04https://holisticbirding.wordpress.com/northern-potoo-nyctibius-jamaicensis/
  4. JungleDragon (from Wikipedia) read 2026-11-04https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/19808/northern_potoo.html
  5. Lista Oficial de las Aves de Costa Rica (AOCR) read 2026-11-04https://listaoficialavesdecostarica.wordpress.com/lista-oficial/lista-oficial-online/
  6. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_potoo
  7. Pablo Bedrossian read 2026-11-04https://pablobedrossian.com/2020/04/16/los-pajaros-estaca-centroamericanos-los-nyctibius-o-potoos/
  8. Asociación Ornitológica de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://www.avesdecostarica.org/nyctibiidae.html
  9. Oiseaux-Birds read 2026-11-04https://www.oiseaux-birds.com/card-northern-potoo.html
  10. Costa Rica Focus read 2026-11-04https://www.costaricafocus.com/birding-guanacaste-costa-rica-a-complete-guide/
  11. Expeditions read 2026-11-04https://www.expeditions.com/travel-guide/costa-rica-travel-guide/birding-destinations-in-costa-rica
  12. Birds of Costa Rica (birdsofcolombia.org) read 2026-11-04https://www.birdsofcolombia.org/costarica/Nyctibius.html
  13. Naturalista Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://costarica.inaturalist.org/taxa/19670-Nyctibius-jamaicensis
  14. Avibase read 2026-11-04https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=5F312992A72C6B56
  15. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2023/05/10/potoos-the-pseudo-owls-of-costa-rica/