The potoos (Nyctibiidae) are a family consisting of eight species related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are found in tropical Central and South America.

Potoos feed at dusk and at night on flying insects. Their typical foraging technique is to perch on a branch and occasionally fly out in the manner of a flycatcher in order to snatch a passing insect. They lack the bristles around the mouth found in the true nightjars.

The potoos are highly nocturnal and generally will not fly during the day. They spend the day perched on branches with the eyes half closed. With their cryptic plumage they resemble stumps, and should they detect potential danger they will adopt a "freeze" position which even more closely resembles a broken branch. The transition between perching and the freeze position is gradual and hardly perceptible to the observer.