Common Potoo
(Nyctibius griseus)

Found across Central and South America, the Common Potoo is a nocturnal bird with one of the most startling faces in the animal kingdom — enormous, bulging yellow eyes that seem far too large for its head, giving it a permanently wide-eyed, almost cartoonishly alarmed expression. Those eyes are genuinely extraordinary though, containing a row of small notches along the eyelids that allow the Potoo to detect movement even while its eyes are almost completely closed, keeping watch for danger while appearing fast asleep!