Skip to content
Oilbird
Christoph Moning, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist

Nightjars, potoos & oilbird

Oilbird

Steatornis caripensis von Humboldt, 1817

LC Least Concern

Names

EnglishOilbird
DutchVetvogel
SpanishGuácharo
Chinese油鸱
Scientific nameSteatornis caripensis von Humboldt, 1817

About this species

The oilbird (Steatornis caripensis), locally known as the guácharo, is a bird species found in the northern areas of South America including the Caribbean island of Trinidad. It is the only living species in the genus Steatornis, the family Steatornithidae, and the order Steatornithiformes. Nesting in colonies in caves, oilbirds are nocturnal feeders on the fruits of the oil palm and tropical laurels. They are the only nocturnal flying fruit-eating birds in the world (the kākāpō, also nocturnal, is flightless). They forage at night, with specially adapted eyesight. However, they navigate by echolocation in the same way as bats, one of the few birds to do so. They produce a high-pitched clicking sound of around 2 kHz that is audible to humans.

Read more on Wikipedia · Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Classification

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderSteatornithiformes
FamilySteatornithidae
GenusSteatornis

In Suriname

2Records in Suriname
2008First record
2022Latest record

Where it has been recorded

  • Brokopondo1
  • Sipaliwini1

Districts with at least one record that has coordinates. Shaded districts have records.

Sources & credits

Spotted a mistake or know another local name? Tell us.