Mystical bird

For many years this is a bird that took on almost mystical qualities for Deb and I. This is a Common Potoo, a night flying insect eating bird of the sub-tropics. What makes this bird very special (IMO) is that it relies on its camouflage during the day. It perches on the top of stumps, broken branches and even fence posts; it sits perfectly still and appears to be part of the stump. In my quest to find one of these birds I found myself staring at every fence post we drove by at 50 mph. Talk about headaches. Finally we found one (it was pointed out by a guide) and now we have seen many. This bird does not make a nest; it merely lays its egg on a flat spot on the branch/stump. The egg hatches and the youngster is raised on that same spot. If you look closely at this picture there are two birds-the female and her chick. The mother is covering the chick; you can see the demarcation under her breast of the chick; the chick is facing her and has its head and beak tucked under her “chin”. We were in Mindo, Ecuador for a month and this bird was present every day covering the chick. Sometime during the night she would leave but it was after dark. A few days before we left, the chick fledged-it flew away. The mother never returned to this spot.