Oilbird

Tweet of the Day · Jan 28, 2015 · 1m

Michael Palin presents the oilbird, from a Venezuelan cavern. Demonic screeching's and the rush of unseen wings mixed with a volley of strange clicks are the sound backdrop to oilbirds.Oilbirds are known in Spanish as guacharos .."the wailing ones". These bizarre-looking brown birds with huge mouths, long broad wings and long tails were seen in 1799 by the explorer Alexander von Humboldt in 1817 who described their sounds as "ear-splitting". They're similar to nightjars, their closest relatives, but unlike them, oilbirds feed on fruit; ..... they're the world's only nocturnal flying…