(Podargus strigoides)
The frogmouths (Podargidae) comprise 12 species found in Australia, Malaya and the Philippines. They are distinguished from other families in this order by their large hooked beaks, which they use to snap up a variety of invertebrate animals from the ground. Slow in movement and poor fliers, they are adapted to a strictly nocturnal life. When roosting in daytime along a branch, their heads raised but motionless, they are extremely difficult to see.
The 20-inch Tawny Frogmouth, Podargus strigoides, of Australia and Tasmania, hunts owl-like by dropping on its prey from a perch. It has a beautifully marbled grey plumage; its booming call, repeated a number of times, carries far through the brush at night. The simple stick nest is usually built on a horizontal branch at some height; the female incubates the 2 or 3 round white eggs by night, the male by day, and the young stay in the nest until fledged.
