Frogmouth chick rescue 

Following on from the last post on how frogmouth fledglings are vulnerable to becoming grounded and dying in tall grass, I found such a bird yesterday. I was monitoring the progress of some of my study birds and was expecting them to have fledged the night before. When I went to the nest site, I saw that they had indeed fledged. The nest was empty and the parents were perched on a branch in a neighbouring tree with one chick beside them. That raised alarm in me as I knew there had been two chicks ready to fledge only a few days prior. Usually, when there are two fledglings and they have split up, mum will sit beside one chick and dad with the other. But, there were both parents with only one chick. Where was the other. Unlike in the previous post, when one chick had probably grounded in wet tall grass and succumbed to hypothermia, in this case the grass was tall, but dry, so I reckoned that if a chick had grounded in the tall grass in the previous night, it could still be alive. So I searched for it, very, very slowly, and careful to look down into the grass before I moved my feet. I didn't want to step on it.

As the adults tend to sit with a chick each if they are separated, I thought the missing chick might be directly below where the rest of the family were perched. And yes, it was, and it was alive.

The grass was more than knee deep and thick, so the bird could not climb up, fly up on its weak wings, or even struggle through the dense growth. It would have died if I had not found it.

The fledgling had fluttered about twenty metres before grounding, not far from the nest branch which can be seen in the background.

And yes the chick was not only alive but perky, giving a ferocious sounding growl as I bent down to pick it up. It opened its big mouth wide and flashed its wings to appear powerful and more fearsome than it really was. 

Of course, once the fledgling began to react, its parenst both reacted to my interference. They both hooted aggressively and swooped over me. That is a big commitment for frogmouths as they only fly in daylight under extreme circumstances of danger. Here dad sits above me, watching my every move as I carefully picked up his still-dependent offspring.

The fledgling looked bigger than it actually was. Most of its growth so far had been in bone and feather development. There were only weak muscles beneath all that fluff.

I popped the bird onto a dead branch in the shade below where the family were perched. This is the best thing to do if anyone finds a frogmouth chick on the ground. The adults will be close by watching. Just because we might not see any adults, that does not mean there are none there. These are frogmouths, masters of disguise and they can be very difficult to see when perched motionless in a tree, which is what they do most the day.

The fledgling soon settled on its new perch and as I walked away it faded deeper and deeper into the mix of branches. I reckon it would have been safe and a parent would soon fly down to perch next to it for the rest of the day to defend it.

But how many other fledglings have died this year in the wet and windy we have had.

 A New Spring

By our calendar it is still winter in Canberra, but the wildlife have considered it spring for a couple of weeks now and they are showing the signs.

This Shingleback was sunning itself in a wood the other day, the first of two I saw that day and the fourth so far this Spring. They all lay perfectly motionless with their bodies spread wide to absorb the sun's heat.

This Golden-headed Cisticola popped up out of the grass as I passed through an ungrazed paddock overgrown with weeds. He gave a few alarm calls at my presence then dropped back down and disappeared into the grsss.

And the first Tawny Frogmouths have laid their eggs. The males are now incubating all day, for the next four weeks, remaining still to avoid detection by predators, such as Brown Goshawks, a pair of which were displaying over this birds nest wood. 

The frogmouths share incubation during the night, but during the day, this bird's partner will remain similarly still in her nearby roost all day, watching for predators - and watching me as I pass by.

Frogmouth - The most Instagrammable bird 

Here they are, images of what has recently been recognised as the most Instagrammable bird - the Frogmouths. I have been studying them, especially these Tawny Frogmouths, for over fifteen years, I have never used Instagram, but I agree that they have a special aesthetic appeal.

I first saw the news of their status on the BBC News at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56946165  This was an article on a study by K. Thommes and G. Hayn-Leichsenring in the journal i-Perception. They assessed the most Likable bird images using the number of Likes each type of bird scored on Instagram and ranked them by Image Aesthetic Appeal. See the full articles by clicking the clinks. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F20416695211003585

This is an adult female who although wild, would sit on her perch quite happily as I walked about within a few metres of her. They are nocturnal birds, so they rest during the day, sitting quietly on the same perch all day. Not all birds sit so calmly and allow easy photography, but this certainly helps their appeal.

Then of course, there are the super cute fluffy youngsters. They always watch with big wide eyes, front-facing, which is rare in birds and adds an anthropocentric touch. And they have that seemingly down-turned mouth. People will press like to such an image.

Once established as a pair, the adults will often sit on a perch snuggled up close side by side. They fluff up their feathers to keep warm and bask in the sunshine. More anthropocentric association. Of course people press Like to such shots.

There is a catch of course. Most frogmouths do not sit openly posed for photographers, and most photographers are unlikely to see one. For most frogmouths adopt a branch-like pose when they see people approach. They stretch their necks up, draw their feathers in, and stay motionless with eyes closed. Well, they peep through their eyelids, to watch for danger. And isn't their camouflage wonderfully adapted for concealment. How many Likes would this image achieve?

Or who could not admire how such a pair of beautiful birds can bask in the sun in full view of people walking below, yet never be noticed. That is what I appreciate most about them.

For more information on these wonderful birds browse through the other pages that describe their behaviour here on this blog. See the links on the right.

With special thanks to Thommes and Hayn-Leichsenring for bringing one of my favourite birds into the limelight.

Thömmes, K., & Hayn-Leichsenring, G. (2021). What Instagram Can Teach Us About Bird Photography: The Most Photogenic Bird and Color Preferences. i-Perception, 12(2), 20416695211003585.

Autumn Frogmouths

It's now late autumn in Canberra and the Tawny Frogmouths are settling into their winter roosts. Each pair seems to have a favourite perch where they will spend most of the winter days, although they will occassionally move to other perches nearby. They like to use dead branches on the northern side of a live tree where they can bask in the sunshine. And they settle close to the trunk, where they blend in well with the background tree structure.

The female is usually perched behind the male, closest to the trunk. He is larger than her, and females in most animal populations are the more important sex as they lay the eggs. This female is peeking over her partner's shoulder. He might appear to be asleep in the sunshine, but he will be watching me through almost closed eyelids.

Even from a more favourable aspect to see them against the sky, they are still well concealed. They match the form of the dead branch as well as the colours.

This is how they were when I found them, basking with heads tilted back, to catch maximum warmth from the sun. And that was how I left them.

Frogmouth seeking protection?

This Tawny Frogmouth flew into the garden yesterday, to escape from a group of Pied Currawongs and Magpies that were chasing it.

I was tidying up the back garden when I heard a commotion from the front drive. I looked up and a frogmouth came flying over the gate, zoomed past me at waist height and landed on the shed roof a few metres away. In hot pursuit were several currawongs and magpies, all scolding and swooping in full alarm. They had obviously mistaken the frogmouth for an owl, which they resemble but are not related to, and which they would consider to be a potential predator.

I immediately shooed away the currawongs and magpies. While the frogmouth watched them, and me, but he was more afraid of the birds than of me. Once the attackers had all retreated to their various patches in neighbouring gardens, the frogmouth relaxed and flitted into a tree overhanging the shed.

I believe that he had deliberately flown to be near me as he knew the other birds would be less likely to attack him when close to me. I have witnessed this behaviour before. Once with a Red Grouse that dived into heather a few metres in front of me on a hillside in the Scotish Highlands. A Golden Eagle came swooping over my head seconds later and hung on the air above me looking for the grouse. The second ocassion was when a Rock Ptarmigan dived into rocks a few metres from me, on another hill in the HIghlands, as a Peregrine dived then pulled out at the last second. Both birds stayed motionless while the raptors were above, and would not move when I approached them. Both held themselves hugged cloe to the ground, deep in cover. All three birds seemed to have used me as cover, perhaps in judgment of me being the lesser of the risks of predation. They probably all knew that an eagle or peregrine on their tail could very likely be a cause of their death, or in the case of the frogmouth, an angry mob could also have killed him.

I refer to the frogmouth as 'he' because I could readily recognise it as such by his size and colouring, the females are smaller with more rufous in their plumage. He was probably a young bird from last year's breeding season. Autumn is when the young birds leave their natal territory and family groups, to go in search of a territory of their own, and a partner, ready for next year's breeding season.

A difficult time in their lives for young birds of all species.

Autumn Life

One of the surest signs of autumn is the wonderful smell of petrichore - one of my favourite smells, and favourite words - and a flush of mushrooms. I saw some yesterday. Lovely and fresh, but I'm just not that confident in identifying the Australian varieties so left them to be consumed by the animals.

And then I saw this lovely animal nearby, wonder if they would eat mushrooms? It's a wombat outside its burrow.

It was still early morning and quite cool, so I think this wombat was lying sunning itself at the burrow entrance. A sign of autumn-winter? I don't think they need do that in summer here in Canberra.

It certainly wasn't perturbed by my presence, so I took a few shots including close-ups of its face. Something I don't usually see, they tend to scurry off when approached and only show their hind end.

Meanwhile, up in the tree in the background of the first photo, there was another sign of autumn. The local Tawny Frogmouth had settled into his autumn-winter roost. He was sitting basking in the sunshine to warm himself up, strategically positioned on the sunny side of the tree, as they always do in autumn. The only tell-tale sign that he was there was a pile of white droppings on the ground below.

Look how well the plumage on his back and upper parts mimics the mottled dark grey of the topside of the peeling wood to his left, and how his breast feathers mimic the stripes of the grain on the lower side of the peeled wood.

Marvelous.

Tawny Frogmouths in their winter roosts

A Tawny Frogmouth roost-tree in open woodland

It's now late autumn and migrant birds such as the yellow-faced honeyeaters are flying over the house and general area on their annual migration to the northern and coastal forests. While other birds like the tawny frogmouths are settling down in the local woods for the winter. The frogmouths stay in their breeding territories over the winter, probably because they are a valuable resource and worth defending. And in the bird world, occupiers usually win over any intruder. So to keep warm in the cooler months, during the day they settle on a favourite perch where they can catch the winter sun.

A Tawny Frogmouth sits quietly in her roost

I know most of the local birds' perches and  most days they will be in one of perhaps two or three, for they have sussed that those branches offer shelter from predators and exposure to the sun. Exposure to the sun is important to them, for the morning sun warms them up. Also, these birds can go into torpor for part of the day to conserve energy. And that is not their only two strategies for enduring the winter, they also build up body fat. The female I found dead last week was carrying 88 grams of fat, approximately 16% of her weight, and her stomach was full of beetles and large moths. The contents formed 8% of her weight. She had been feeding hard catching the last of the autumn insects before the lean times ahead in the cold nights. (I acknowledge Gil Pfitzner of CSIRO for this information as he was the one who prepared her skin for the national collection and took these measurements).

This bird is several years old - I know her by the pattern of her bib,
and she knows me because she has seen me so often over the years

The more we look at birds, or any other wildlife, the more we can learn about how well adapted each species is for its own niche. As for the tawny frogmouths, they have so many adaptations, they continue to fascinate me. No doubt they will have more that I don't know of - just what is the purpose of those bristles above their eyes and bill?

Here she has closed her eyelids, almost. She is still peeping through a slit and even if she closed her eyes further, she could watch me through tiny gaps between her eyelids. For her eyelids have rippled edges allowing her to see out, but not for a predator to see her eyes. Frogmouths are very well adapted for concealment, right down to their eyelids, and surveillance at the same time. Eyes can be a big betrayer of camouflage. This bird hasn't gone into full defensive pose as she is familiar with me and does not feel under threat. She is just basking in the sun - with a little caution.

Night watch

An adult female Tawny Frogmouth perched beside her two chicks

Now that the last summer moon is waxing to almost a quarter, it is possible to go out at night and watch the local wildlife without the aid of torchlight. I don't use spotlamps to watch animals as they ruin our night vision, and probably wreck their eyesight too. All we can see is whatever is within the light-zone, outwith that, all is black, darker than if not using a light at all. It is much better to go out at dusk and gradually let your eyes become accustomed to the dark. Anything more than a quarter moon is enough to see under and when there is a full or nearly-full moon I even use binoculars as there is enough light.

The adult delivers a grasshopper to one of the chicks

So, over the past few evenings I have been out watching a family of Tawny Frogmouths with two recently fledged chicks. These youngsters will still be dependent on their parents for about a month after leaving the nest. Frogmouth families typically all roost together during the day, then at dusk the fledglings flit to an open branch, and the adults soon begin bringing food to them. The birds leave their roost about half an hour before full darkness and it is in that first half-hour they are most active. These two adults delivered about ten items per hour for the first hour, mostly within the first half-hour. In the following hour there were no feeds and the two chicks went quiet, snuggled up together and seemed to go to sleep. Not too surprising as the prey items were mostly large grasshoppers which would have probably been more than enough to satisfy the chicks' appetites.

I last saw the adults fly off, presumably to find food for themselves before they would come back and gave the chicks more food. I have used camera traps before to monitor their food delivery times throughout the night and the pattern seems to be; they will bring occasional items during the rest of the night then a few in quick succession as dawn approaches. As with most nocturnal animals, they are more active around dusk and dawn, so those are the best times to watch for them.

At night, Tawny Frogmouths seem to become different birds from the shy ones we see by day. They are so confident under darkness and they do not seem to fear humans. Not only do they allow close approach, but I have had birds fly down to catch insects at my feet (probably stirred up by me) then carry them off to their chicks sitting on a branch a few metres away. Those are the special wildlife moments which we keep in our minds forever.

The two fledglings snuggled up together, head to tail.

Frogmouths in the sun

A Tawny Frogmouth basks in sunshine

Ever wondered what tawny Frogmouths do when we aren't watching, and they don't adopt their broken branch pose? Following on from the previous post, I thought I should add some images of how frogmouths hold themselves when not in alarm, as usually seen by humans.

Typically, they sit on the sunny side of trees where they can bask in the sun. Frogmouths can go into torpor during the day when they are not active and exposure to maximum sunshine, especially in winter, helps them thermoregulate. When sitting in the sun, they hold their breast up towards and face onto the sun. And they tilt their head back and fluff out their feathers, which are held tight against the body when in branch-pose.

Well shaded eyes

Frogmouths don't hunt by day and they hold their eyes closed when their head is angled towards the sun or when approached. But at other times when they are looking around, generally watching, their eyes are well shielded from the sunshine by thickly feathered eyebrows. As their eyes are likely better tuned to night vision, this probably aids their daylight vision, by shading them from bright direct light.

Quite frequently, they will bend their head right back and over a shoulder, spreading the feathers on their neck and breast wide open. This seems to be to allow maximum sunlight or heat reach their skin. In the photograph below, the bird has tipped her head to her left and her bill tip and nasal bristles can only just be seen protruding from the fluffed up plumage.

Maximised sun basking

A close call

A Tawny Frogmouth sits on its nest, hiding from me, not the Crimson Rosella 

Tawny Frogmouths are well known to adopt a branch-pose to hide from potential predators, as they usually do when approached by a human. So it was illuminating to watch what they do when an animal predator approaches them.

Yesterday, this bird was unconcerned when a Crimson Rosella landed on its nest branch, but quickly slipped into the angled pose as I drew nearer. Then while I was looking for the female roosting a few trees away, she began to call in a low oom oom. This is most unusual as they do not normally call at all when approached. And then she started to fidget, leaving her branch-pose and shifting along her perch. Her eyes were wide open, they keep them closed when approached as part of their concealment, and I was wondering what was up, when I heard a cawing back beside the nest.

The female frogmouth in alarm

Two Australian Ravens were hopping about in the tree next to the nest, staring at the bird on the nest, which was back in a branch-pose. She had obviously seen them approach the nest well before me and was anxous as to what to do. For frogmouths are loath to fly in daylight, yet she seemed to want to help chase off the ravens from her nest.

Two Australian Ravens investigated the frogmouth on the nest

The male by then had his hackles partly raised, and his bill was slightly open. I suspect that he might have been giving a low hissing call as the ravens drew closer. I am sure they had identified him as a bird on a nest, but perhaps his partial threat display was enough to make them unsure. We can't tell, but they flew away to join the rest of the roving flock which they were part of. Hopefully not to return. 

Fortunately they flew away

Fledging Frogmouths

A Tawny Frogmouth fledgling basks in the sun

The first Tawny Frogmouths fledged at the weekend, with one chick leaving the nest a day before its siblings, which left the next day. So, a brood of three from the earliest nesting attempt of the year, by the same pair which laid earliest last year and reared three chicks then too.

Meanwhile its dad continues to brood two chicks in the nest on the next branch

The female was sitting low in a branch and was most un-noticeable. Then once they had all fledged the whole family moved into an adjacent tree. They will continue to move around their home range from now on, roosting in a different spot most days.

 

And mum watches on in-obtrusively

Brood of three

The male Tawny Frogmouth covers the chicks during the day

The pair of  Tawny Frogmouths which nested earliest in my study area in Canberra now have three well-grown chicks, about three weeks old.

I recorded their activity remotely last night on a Bushnell trap-camera set on an adjacent branch, and they seem to be bringing in moths to the chicks. Certainly small wingless tubular bodies and one very small frog. There are lots of Bogong moths Agrostis infusa in Canberra at the moment as they migrate from their breeding grounds to the hills south of the area. So there is plenty food for all five birds.

Click on this link if you would like to see footage of the three chicks jiggling for space on the nest.