Potoo

The Potoo. The what now? Yes I’ll admit it does resemble something out of Star Wars and until one of you lot suggested this ridiculous thing, I’d never heard of it. But now, thankfully, I have, and it’s an instant top 5 bird. Maybe top 3. They have huge eyes, even bigger mouths and are also referred to as Ghost Birds because of their mastery of camouflage and haunting call. They’re nocturnal so during the day they perch on the end of tree branches, looking pretty branch-like, then when it senses danger it lifts its head up, closes its eyes and looks EXACTLY like a branch. They have slits in their eyelids which means they can watch what’s going on with their eyes closed, and will only fly away if a predator gets really close. I’m not sure why I like this so much, but you should immediately go and watch a video because I’m definitely not doing it justice. It reminds me of playing hide and seek as a kid and desperately wishing that if I closed my eyes I’d become invisible. You can also hear one in the background of a scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I’m going to take as proof that they’re fans of Harrison Ford. Ok, top 2 birds of all time.