This astonishing creature is Nyctibius griseus, aka the Nictibio Urutaú aka the Common Potoo aka Poor-Me-Ones (because of their creepy call you can hear below) aka the Ghost Bird of South America. Populations of this nocturnal beauty have declined due to deforestation. From the British Ornithologist' Union:
Their plumage, structure and posture allow them to masquerade as broken branches or stumps; a feat they sometimes attempt in the open, bold as brass on fenceposts and bottles. Notches in their eyelids allow them to watch intruders with eyes closed or nearly so. When open, these eyes are large, bright yellow with pupils that are often asymmetrically dilated. Paired with their large mouth, Potoos are the posterchild of derpy bird memes. The mournful descending cry of the Common Potoo, Nyctibius griseus, is the subject of poetry and lore. Alexander Skutch (1970) described the Common Potoo's voice as "the most melancholy utterance I had ever heard from bird or beast. Although plaintive, the Potoo's soft, soprano notes were so beautifully modulated that they brought to mind a phrase from Shelley's Adonais, 'most musical of mourners'". In folklore Potoos are similarly anthropomorphized as mourning the loss of a loved one. A child crying for their mother who abandoned them, a chieftain's daughter mourning her suitor murdered by her father, or a wife crying for her husband who left and became the moon because she didn't prepare enough pumpkin for dinner. These legends and others form the root of their name in Brazil where they are called Mãe-da-lua "Mother of the Moon" or by the Tupi of the Amazon as Urutau "ghost bird."
(Thanks, UPSO!)
