The Rufous Potoo is a nocturnal bird with deep rufous plumage and conspicuous white spots. By day it can look like a dead leaf while perched on a branch.
It is 21–25 cm long, with deep rufous plumage and white spots on the wings, breast, flanks, and belly.
It is nocturnal. By day it may sit still on a branch and resemble a dead leaf; at night it sallies out to catch aerial invertebrates.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.