Physical characteristics
The color of the oilbird feathers resembles that of cinnamon and its reddish brown feathers are dotted with spots that are white in color. They have long tails which are colored by pale black lines of color. The males and their female counterparts have the same color although the female ones are slightly smaller compared to the male ones.

The only known member of the Steatornithidae family is the oilbird. They may appear very similar to owls of the order Strigiformes, but oilbird belong to the order Caprimulgiformes. Their mouths are wide when open and this is called gape.

These birds that belong to the orders Caprimulgiformes and Strigiformes are nocturnal, which is to say they are most active at night. To be able to have excellent vision to enable them see well at night, these birds possess larges that provide strong vision. There is a marked level of similarity between the owl and the oilbird in that they have hooked bills, though the owl has claws that are sharp on its feet.

Measuring 17 to 19 inches in length, an adult oilbird has blue eyes and beaks that are yellow in color and which are lined with bristles that look like whiskers on the sides. The bill is used in plucking the fruit from the tree when hunting foe food.

Because of their short feet, they do not perch or stand on trees but rest instead, which is more like sitting. They cannot walk from one place to another because of very weak feet, and to move from one place to the other, they fly instead.

Diet
The diet of the oilbird consists mainly of foods that are rich in fats and oils which, as scientists agree provide the much-needed energy to power their flight expenses. Feeding these foods to chicks before they can start to fly makes the chicks really fat, sometimes outgrowing even the adults. you could find an adult bird weighing between 375-455 grams which is much less than what a 70-day old chick would weigh (600 grams) under similar conditions. As the chick becomes more developed, its mother feeds it less and less. The oilbird loses weight due to combination of two factors-beings fed given less food and growing into an adult. The bird derives its name from the fact that in the past, their young ones were captured and boiled to make oil.

Oilbird normally breed in rainy seasons and the breeding birds are keen to build their nests into the caves and out of reach of predators. Their nests are saucer-shaped and are made of materials which comprise regurgitated seed and fruit pulps. The nests are held together by the bird’s saliva, which acts like glue in this case.

The birds lay two eggs and both the birds incubate on the eggs which take 30-35 days before they are hatched.

The hatched chicks have their eyes closed at the time of their hatching and weigh roughly 12 t0 15 grams.