Tawny Frogmouth

Tawny frogmouth - Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
 

NO - I'm NOT an owl.

The Frogmouth occurs almost throughout Australia, but does not live in rainforests.

From place to place it varies markedly in size and colour (ranging from grey to dull rufous).  Normally it has large yellow eyes and a heart shaped bill.  Frogmouths have a bristly feathered tuft over their bill and an extremely long tongue that is forked.

Frogmouths sleep on branches in the daytime, live in pairs that maintain permanent territories.  It usually hunts by pouncing from a low perch, such as a fence post or road sign, onto small terrestrial animals crossing bare open ground (e.g. Country roads) at dusk and dawn. The chief prey are such arthropods as centipedes, spiders, scorpions and cockroaches, but it also eats frogs, mice and - occasionally - small birds.

Breeding occurs from August to December and both parents share equally in the duties. The nest, 15 metres or so up a tree, is a flimsy platform of sticks, in a tree fork.  Two white rounded eggs are incubated for 1 month, and the young fledge at 25 to 35 days.

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