Tawny Frogmouth

Description:

Most widespread Frogmouth. Variable: plumage grey, mottled; marbled paler grey or brown, with dark streaks over crown, back, throat, breast and flanks; tawny shoulders; eye yellow to orange-yellow, with slight pale eyebrow; underparts paler, black marks down sides of throat/breast; tail finely banded dark/light grey. Male: darker, greyer; markings bolder, more marbled; bill longer. Female: plainer, browner, less marbled; some washed rufous. Pairs, family parties: roosts branch-like by day. Active at dusk: eyes large, feathers expand, sits watchfully on branches, fence posts, glides silently down like kookaburra to seize pray. Voice: resonant, low, pulsing 'oom-oom-oom-oom', slow or rapid, difficult to locate; grunts, drums when alarmed; growls, cat-like sounds from young. 35-50cm Male larger.

Habitat:

Forest, rainforest margins; tracks, clearings; open woodlands, timbered watercourses; mallee, mulga, myall, belar scrubs, pandanus, coastal tea-tree, banksia-scrubs, alpine woodland, roadsides, gold courses, parks, well-treed gardens.

Notes:

Other Names: Frogmouth-Owl & Morepork (my personal favorite). Breeds: Aug-Dec; after rain inland. Nest: flimsy, of sticks, leaves; on horizontal fork 5-10 m high; or old nests of chough, cuckoo-shrike, magpie. Eggs: 2; white, rounded. Information taken from 'The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia' by Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight.