Hobbly Potoo

omgomgomgomg look at that cute little bird! aaawwww he thinks he's camouflag- oh he just fell off. is he okay?

— concerned onlooker

Hobbly Potoo by Mochi

Hobbly potoos are small birds native to the Painted Fields of Capepo. They struggle to stand on their own two feet. If they stand still for too long, they'll lose balance and fall to the ground like a split log.

Hobbly potoos stand just ten inches tall. They have a giant head that makes up half the size of its entire body, with two giant yellow eyes that cannot blink. Instead, hobbly potoos produce a liquid that seeps into their eyes, to keep them moist. This liquid gives makes it difficult for them to see and as a result, they fly into things and struggle balancing, even on flat surfaces.

These birds come alive at night, after sleeping and hiding from predators during the day. They flit from bush to bush in the Painted Fields, navigating the thick fields of heather. They hunt small insects, standing perfectly still with their mouths wide open. Flickering lights in their throat attract insects, and when the bird feels something land in its mouth, the beak snaps shut.

Hobbly potoos lay just one egg, not in a nest, but in a tree stump. Both parents tend to this egg and raise the chick for the first months of its life. Because the nest is typically out in the open, the male will incubate the egg and changeovers are rare, to limit attention drawn to the nest.