Vegetarian Goat Suckers

 I was meaning to do this yesterday, but I got distracted and had a bad headache, so I apologize. 

Vegetarian Goat Suckers are a rather specific species of Goat Sucker bird, with their own branch of the family group that they are alone in. And, in case there's anyone that's thinking about it, these birds actually probably have even less to do with goats than most goat sucker birds, but I'm going to keep calling them that because their other name, the Oil Bird, has me thinking bad things about humans a bit. 

As a quick introduction to them, I'm actually going to steal the opening paragraph of the Audobon article about them that has a link below. I really like it, so if you're only going to read one article below, try that one. 

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You know the type: They go out after sundown and return again in the morning, and regurgitate whatever they may have ingested during the night. Then they sleep all day and whine at the tiniest sliver of light. They’re almost never caught alone, preferring to gather in large, single-minded groups. Their attempts to grow facial hair are pitiful, but they keep on trying. And they’re always thinking about food. That’s right: I’m talking about Oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis), the only nocturnal, fruit-eating birds in the world! (Other acceptable answers include “my college roommate” or any combination of Greek letters.)

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As it says, the Vegetarian Goat Sucker is fruit eating, instead of the insects the others eat. It's still a Goat Sucker because it's got several similar traits, but it's also very different. 

You might also have gotten caught on the bit about facial hair. Yes, they have whiskers. Science Friday is giving us this picture of them for you. 

The whiskers you can see there are because they're a nocturnal bird, so they've got echolocation abilities, one of the few species of birds to be able to do that, great eyesight and a great sense of smell, and they have those whiskers to let them know what's going on in spaces that are too small to echolocate in and too dark to see-- such as the middle of a tree. 

They also have a loud and jarring screech, like several of their relatives, which gained them the nickname 'Little Devils'. 

That actually brings me to their other nickname, 'Oilbird', which I need to address. Feel free to skip this paragraph if you want to avoid humans being horrible. Oilbirds were named that because they eat an oily fruit and their babies get really fat, so the natives would grab the babies and render them down for their fat, like the drippings off a duck. They would then store up the oil and use it for cooking, torches, and whatever else they needed it for. 

From ABC Birds. Don't they look kinda cute? Hopefully you skipped the above paragraph and still like the picture of innocent birdies. 

So, some people have claimed that this birdie is one of the 'most unique' bird evolutionarily, and it is pretty unique-- not the least because of it's lovely whiskers. It's pretty interesting to me at least, and I hope you liked getting introduced to them. There are links below if you want them, and I suggest the Audubon link below because they tend to compare these guys to frat boys. I hope you like them, and you'll go look at more pictures of these adorable looking birds. 

Sources:

Science Friday- Nocturnal Oilbird

Audobon-- Oilbird

Ornitology.com-- Nightjars and Goatsuckers

eBird- Oilbird

Animal Diversity Web-- Oilbird

Birds of the World-- Oilbird

ABC Birds-- Oilbird

Animalia-- Oilbird

Encyclopedia Britannica-- Oilbird

iNaturalist-- Oilbird