Social media pages circulate, from time to time, a strange and rare sight of a bird that can disguise itself in a unique way, as it turns into a silent piece of wood, in every sense of the word.
Videos of the unique bird are widely spread, without many knowing its real name, or its characteristics, but this unique bird, which has acquired one of the strangest disguise tricks, is unfortunately threatened with extinction.
According to the “thedodo” website, it is almost impossible to find this bird in nature, not only because it is threatened with extinction, but because it hides among the tree trunks and turns into a part of these trunks, and it is almost impossible to distinguish it even when you approach it closely, because of the color and shape of its feathers. Corresponding to the bark of trees.
The length of the bird, which was called by several nicknames, including (Tawny Frogmouths), which means “frog mouth” because of the shape of its mouth, or “Great potoo” ranges between 34 centimeters (females) and up to 53 centimeters (males) and can weigh up to 680 grams. Its feathers vary in color between gray, white, black and red, to imitate dead tree branches, according to “bushheritage”.
The bird has feathers similar to the feathers of owls that allow it to fly silently with bristles around the headquarters that allow sensing movement when closing the eyes. These birds sleep during the day and chase their prey during the night from insects, worms, spiders, snails, slugs, etc., and its genus is called “Podargus”, meaning gout. In Greek, because of its mobility, it has small feet and walks like a man with gout.”
This unusual bird is a Great Potoo. They can be found in the forests of South America. Photo by Sharon Templin https://t.co/dpPhoccdyu pic.twitter.com/20A8sdsQhO
— Wild Bird Revolution (@wildbirdrev) November 7, 2017