Uploaded October 2023 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago

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Oilbirds come out at night, live in caves in huge colonies, and echolocate, but they aren't bats! Why would this South American bird have evolved to be so similar to our favorite flying mammals of the night?

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#BizarreBeasts #oilbirds #birds
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Sources:
animaldiversity.org/accounts/Steatornis_caripensis
abcbirds.org/bird/oilbird
sciencefriday.com/segments/consider-the-nocturnal-whiskered-oilbird
https://animal-evolution.whu.edu.cn/PDF/2015nature.pdf
iucnredlist.org/search?query=Steatornis%20caripensis&searchType=species
biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/76549
biosciences-labs.bham.ac.uk/martin/PDFs/OilbirdNaturwissenschaften.PDF
frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2013.00123/full
batcon.org/about-bats/bats-101
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147128
animaldiversity.org/accounts/Phyllostomidae
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51113898#page/61/mode/1up
https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/15586/VZ_196_Eocene_oilbird.pdf
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283505
biodiversitylibrary.org/page/51113898#page/43/mode/1up
avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=A820F1653743ABDF
sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140410141939.htm
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Images:
https://3d.si.edu/object/3d/prefica-nivea-olson%3Aee4f23d4-e1aa-4c51-82ca-b86b22ee74f9
datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.fq068
journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283505
gettyimages.com/detail/1138416069
gettyimages.com/detail/1151045655
gettyimages.com/detail/1201237997
gettyimages.com/detail/1214167522
gettyimages.com/detail/1216066385
gettyimages.com/detail/1220623884
gettyimages.com/detail/1221484010
gettyimages.com/detail/1226657044
gettyimages.com/detail/1227440344
gettyimages.com/detail/1283079257
gettyimages.com/detail/1332004807
gettyimages.com/detail/1347682189
gettyimages.com/detail/1378073609
gettyimages.com/detail/1387917359
gettyimages.com/detail/1388728970
gettyimages.com/detail/1396573147
gettyimages.com/detail/1401186698
gettyimages.com/detail/1405693785
gettyimages.com/detail/1408113938
gettyimages.com/detail/1410515673
gettyimages.com/detail/1410515711
gettyimages.com/detail/1410515722
gettyimages.com/detail/1410515742
gettyimages.com/detail/1428253465
gettyimages.com/detail/1428480066
gettyimages.com/detail/1428480324
gettyimages.com/detail/1477208893
gettyimages.com/detail/1561286360
gettyimages.com/detail/472574451
gettyimages.com/detail/822045964
gettyimages.com/detail/937953538
gettyimages.com/detail/954306540
gettyimages.com/detail/video/singing-european-nightjar-caprimulgus-europaeus-at-night-stock-footage/1403917327
inaturalist.org/observations/60790087
inaturalist.org/observations/65152867
youtube.com/watch?v=8MumWrQ3vno
youtube.com/watch?v=FJe4O96UpWo
youtu.be/lk5CnMyatJU?si=Vv6bS9ylXptRJ3k_