First Frogmouths fledging now

An adult male Tawny Frogmouth sits with one of his chicks in the nest, while the sibling sits out along the nest branch.

This one would likely have been flying about between the branches, if not neighbouring trees, over the past few nights, then returning to the nest by dawn. Perhaps, the sooner they can leave the nest at night the safer they are from predators, by separating from the group. The chicks do make a rasping, coughing call when they are being fed, and that could attract owls, for example.

When viewed from the other side, it seems like both chicks are actually out of the nest and on the branch rather than in the nest, which is just the cradle of twigs in the fork. That is all frogmouths need for a nest, enough to hold the eggs, any more twigs and the nest would be bulky and so betray the birds presence. A little is better for these birds, who rely on their camouflage for concealment.

This chick doesn't look much younger, only a day or so in difference. These shots were taken yesterday, so I am sure both chicks will have fledged by tonight, although they might still return to their nest for perhaps one more night. As it's Halloween tonight, watch out for some of these spectres flying between the trees, silently gathering moths. There is nothing frightening in nature, just fascinating.

A long sit

This pair of Tawny Frogmouths have had a bad season. Back on 6th October (seen above) they were together in their nest tree. Unusually, the female was sitting on the nest in the daytime, so I assume that was because she was laying an egg and had not finished before sunrise, so she stayed on the nest during the day. That is usually the male's task.

Sadly, they then took turns, the male sitting on the nest by day, and both for spells at night, for the next nine weeks. They must have had an infertile egg, or possibly two of them, but that would seem unlikely, and very bad luck. They only stopped trying to incubate and hatch it last week, and it is probably now too late for them to try again. When I suspected that they had a dud egg, weeks ago now, when they should have had chicks, I was tempted to climb up and take the egg away from them so that they could go ahead and re-lay. But, I don't interfere with nature, so I left them to be, sad as it is to witness.

The immediate neighbouring pair also had a dud egg, but they did have a viable one too, and they successfully hatched and fledged a chick (a few weeks ago, see above when it had just left the nest). I saw them again last week, with the chick now well developed and almost full grown since fledging on the 7th November.

The remains of their dud egg, the split shell, was lying below their nest on the day the chick fledged. It had already been eaten by an opportunist predator.

Meanwhile, the next pair along successfully raised two chicks. It is only by studying birds closely that we learn what happens to them when breeding. So many different things can go wrong in life.

Rain and Shine

Two days ago it was torrential rain. Today it was brilliant sunshine. This male Tawny Frogmouth sat on his nest all that day covering his three chicks from the wet, with only their tails sticking out. The usual brood size for these birds is one or two, so it was bit of a squeeze under there to keep dry. Meanwhile the rain pattered off his head and back, dripped from their tails and beaded on dad's back.

Today was much brighter and dry, very dry. The youngest chick was still sticking close to its father, although he was on the nest the chicks were all out.

The oldest chick had well and truly fledged. That one was up high in the next tree hiding very well, with mum close by. This youngster was probably a week or more older than the youngest one, and this is only the second brood of three chicks fledged this year in my study area in Canberra.

These birds might seem tricky, or easy, to see when the camera has framed them, but when viewed at a wider setting, there is a more realistic impression of how well these birds can hide.

Often a view down on a nest or brood can make it a little easier to find them, but I always admire them when I do find them. They are just so good at what they do, hide and sit quietly all day, waiting for night when the woods become theirs again.

Fully-fledged Frogmouths

Two well-grown frogmouth fledglings with their father on the right

On the 18th October this year I posted a feature on the first brood of Tawny Frogmouths to fledge in my study area, in Canberra. They left the nest on the 15th, and last weekend when they were six weeks old, they were fully-fledged, well almost. Compare the recent image above with that below of the same brood last month.

The youngsters now have fully-grown tail feathers, and in these pictures it can be seen how the young birds have rounded tips to these, while those of the adults are pointed. This is a common feature in birds.

Also, the young birds' under-tail coverts are still downy and white, while the adult's coverts are stiffer feathers and coloured for camouflage.

The same three birds on the 15th October - six weeks previously

Six weeks ago the young birds were only just out of the nest and still downy. Although they had well-enough developed flight feathers to flutter between trees for safety and to follow their parents around as they hunted.

The downy newly-fledged chicks 

The chicks have now lost most of their downy feathers, but a few still hung around their faces, giving the birds that still-young appearance. They could be dependent on their adults for another month yet and stay with them for longer, into the autumn or even stay with them till the next breeding season.

So at what stage can they be considered as having fledged? Well, for my study, I use the day they leave the nest as that is the only figure I can count for every breeding attempt. Many of the birds disappear into the woods after that. This is standard procedure to describe birds that have left the nest. Other birds which I study, such as Golden eagles, fledge at about twelve weeks old, but stay with their parents for another three months.

Soft downy face feathers

As is usual, it was the male who perched close to the young birds. He is larger and can give more protection against predators. The female was perched on an adjacent branch of the same tree, ready to fly in and help if any danger did approach.

The adult female

First Frogmouths fledged

The first Tawny Frogmouth chicks of the year left their nest last Sunday, the 15th October. That means the first egg would have been laid about the 18th August, quite early but not the earliest I have seen in Canberra. That was the 12th August one year. The pair who breed in this territory are usually one of the earliest to lay. There is a wide spread of laying dates this year over the frogmouths that I monitor - I have been recording the breeding success of about fifty pairs for over ten years. And this year some of the birds only went down on eggs a week or so ago, seven weeks later than these early ones.

Even though they have left the nest, the chicks have not truly fledged. They are still very dependent upon their parents for food and protection. They will stay with their parents for at least another month, usually longer, living as a family group until they finally disperse at the end of the breeding season and find territories and mates of their own.



The male was the bird in close attendance of the chicks, as is usually the case. Although the adult birds both know me as I have been visiting them for several years, they were still wary of me in protection of their chicks. They did not go into full stick-pose, but did stretch up a little and watch me through half-closed eyes.

Meanwhile the female watched from the next tree. Again in part concealment pose, and watching through part-closed eyes.

Tawny Frogmouths and ants

A family of Tawny Frogmouths line up along a dead branch
Mum is farthest away, then the single fledgling and dad is watching from the right

Most of the young Tawny Frogmouths have fledged by now, except for those from nests where the adults lost their first clutches of eggs or broods of young. The chicks will be with their parents for another month or so before they venture off on their own and lead an adult life.

The fledglings are so curious they watch people as much as they watch them - if they can spot them in the first place

It is not all peaceful and easy just sitting on a branch all day waiting for dark and then going about the woods looking for food. I found this female being very tolerant of a string of ants that were marching up and down her roost branch.

She watched me through part open eyelids, but was unconcerned about the ants

I watched her for several minutes and she gradually reclined into a relaxed posture once she realised I was no threat to her. Still, she never reacted to the ants in any way, and she would have been sitting there for several hours before I saw her. She would have been there since dawn. I suppose that frogmouths must be used to ants chewing on their toes, or the ants don't go any further than that, for ants will attack and kill small birds if the come across a nest or an injured bird on the ground. The question is, why didn't the ants attack her? Have frogmouths adapted some form of ant repellent which allows them to sit in one spot all day and not be bothered by them?

Meat ants Iridomymex sp. chewing at the dead skin on her toes

  

First frogmouths now on eggs

A few pairs of Tawny Frogmouths are now incubating their first eggs of the year. The earliest eggs in Canberra were probably laid over last weekend, about the 27th August. This is a little early, the earliest I have seen birds on eggs has been the 12th August several years ago. Most will probably lay in early-mid September which is not much different from the usual dates. Some birds began building their nests over a month ago, possibly in response to the high rainfall in the area during the past few months over winter. However, after a warm spell, there has been some colder weather and this might have halted any early developments. This bird is unusually easy to see as his tail breaks the outline of the branches. Their tails usually lie along the nest branch. (It is the male that incubates during the day, while both sexes take turns at night).

When seen along the nest branch, a predator's view, the bird is less noticeable. Its grey plumage blends well with the colour of the tree's branches.

This nest is quite large and substantially raised up above the branch. This causes the bird's tail to lie high above the branch and hence, reveal the bird's presence.

Meanwhile, the females roost by day, relying on their camouflage for concealment from potential predators. Spots and flecks blend with spots and flecks.

Nest re-cycling

The male Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides sits on the edge of the chough nest

Tawny frogmouths usually build their own nest, a simple platform of twigs and sprigs of greenery, although about one in forty nest records from my study of these birds in Canberra have been in old White-winged Chough Corcorax melanorhamphos nests. These are large, clay nests, which resemble bronze-age beakers set half-way along horizontal branches. In this case about fifteen metres up a Scribbly Gum tree. Frogmouth nests are often flimsy constructions, so perhaps they find these old firm structures as good bases for their nest. They add a few sprigs inside the cup, but don't fill it.

The female sits with the chicks - she has more red on her wings than the male

I have been monitoring the incubation, brooding and feeding rates of frogmouths over the years, studying differences in habitat and weather conditions. Some of this can be done by watching, but it is at times easier and less time-consuming to do this remotely with wildlife-monitoring cameras. So, with the help of Laura Rayner, who did the climbing to this nest, we set this one up, which was about fifteen metres up a gum tree. Once the camera was set and tested, we left the birds for the night and collected the camera the next night. I only approach these birds at night as I do not like to disturb them during the day when they can be vulnerable to predation. They behave so confidently at night, and these birds were feeding their chicks as we were setting up the camera a few metres away.

The chicks, at about two and a half weeks old, were beginning to fill the egg-cup nest

In this case, the adults fed the chicks seventy times overnight, so that was perhaps thirty-five feeds per chick, if they received equal shares. I don't know as I can't identify each chick in all the shots. About half the feeds were in the first two hours after dark, then the feeding rate decreased as the night progressed. And each adult only brooded the chicks for one period of about ten minutes, most of the time the chicks were alone in the nest.

Then as dawn approached the male came in to cover the chicks for the whole of the next day, for it is the male who guards the chicks all day, while the female roosts in a nearby tree. To watch some footage from the camera click here.

A chick peers over the lip of the clay nest

Tawny Frogmouth fledglings

The adult female Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides (left) male (centre) and one fledgling adopt their cryptic pose
- to merge with the branches they are perched upon

The chicks of the earliest breeding tawny frogmouths which I study have just fledged. They left the nest on the night of the 29/30th October and had flown to a tree about 75m away for their first daytime roost. One chick was with the two adults but the other was on its own in a nearby tree.

The male sits over the chick to protect it - all three birds sit in a relaxed posture as there is no threat of danger, it was only me and they probably recognised me, through familiarity, as not a threat

It is usual for each adult to sit close by a chick if they are on separate branches or trees. This one was perhaps not being guarded because it was on a low branch and the adults were a bit cautious to sit so low. Although they were watching over it and would likely have swooped down to protect it if any predator did approach it. All they did when I approached, was lift and turn their heads to watch me intently, as if ready to move if necessary.

One fledgling had landed in an adjacent tree
 - and was not being guarded by an adult, which is unusual

The solitary chick had little to fear however, as it was so well camouflaged against the tree bark and as they do, it sat motionless as I walked past. Most people or predators would not have noticed it.

The fledglings' plumage was still very downy. The main feathers to have developed were their flight feathers on their wings, and the feathers on their backs which would be able to shed any rain and camouflage them against the tree bark. The facial bristle feathers were beginning to take form, hiding their eyes and bill, for now that they have left the nest concealment is essential to their survival as they roost during the day.

Frogmouths incubating

A pair of Tawny Frogmouths Podargus strigoides at their nest site - can you spot them

September is the month when most tawny frogmouths in the Canberra area lay their eggs and begin their four-week incubation. This year, the earliest birds laid on the 26th August and the last ones have yet to lay, which is typical of the spread that I have found in the past several years. I monitor about fifty pairs in my studies of these birds, and they are rather difficult to find as they are well concealed. Yet every time I do find a pair at their nest site I cannot help but admire their adaptation to their habitat.

The male sitting on the nest set in the fork of a tree - tricky to see in the typical dappled light

The male incubates the eggs during the day while the female sits quietly in a nearby tree. Neither will move when approached apart from shifting their posture, usually to an erect stretched pose by which they blend into the shape of a branch. As their colouring also resembles that of a dead branch, they simply disappear into the wood.

The female sits on a dead branch high in an adjacent tree

The dead branch posture is the one most people are familiar with if they come across a bird, but most of the time they sit fluffed up and bask in the sunshine. Some of the birds I study are familiar with me as I have visited them several times a year over the years, they probably recognize me. And it is probably because the birds have seen me so often that they do not go into their branch pose. I have been right next to birds as they have cocked their head right back and opened their feathers to catch the sun. I always prefer to study undisturbed birds so it is especially pleasing to be accepted as not a threat by a wild animal.

A female basking in sunshine, with loose feathers and head tilted to catch the sun

A female adopts the stick-pose, where she resembles a dead branch in colour and shape

As a little footnote, not all the birds build their nests in a branch fork, some use old nests of other birds. And a favourite old nest is that of the white-winged chough. These are mud nests, set half-way along a lateral branch and the frogmouths add just a few sprigs of leaves and twigs to the cup of the mud nest. This might give the birds a more secure nest site than the usual flimsy loose platform balanced in a fork, but they are more obvious to predators. Over the years, I'll gather information on whether the birds that use old chough nests are more or less successful at rearing young than those that use conventional nests.

A Tawny Frogmouth sitting on his nest in an old White-winged chough Corcorax melanorhamphos nest

Snuggled up

It's late winter in Canberra with frosty nights and sunny days, and the birds are beginning to show springtime behaviour. The Tawny Frogmouths are drawing closer to their breeding sites, moving in from more distant perches to be close to their nest sites. They will be building their nests soon. Although none have started to do so yet, I have seen birds with well-built nests by this date in previous years, with the earliest eggs laid on the 12th August. Meanwhile, they are making the best use of the sunshine as they roost during the day.

A pair of Tawny Frogmouths Podargus strigoides roost by day in a gum tree
the smaller female sits closer to the trunk as is usually the case - for protection by her mate?

They are medium-sized birds, about the size of a Tawny Owl, and live mostly on invertebrates. However, they have a slow metabolism and as insects and such creatures are not abundant during winter, they move as little as possible, slow down their metabolism even further and sit in sunny situations, all to conserve energy. And to do so while daytime predators are about, they have evolved excellent camouflage for protection.

A pair of frogmouths sit high on a sunny branch

Yet, they don't stay completely motionless all day. This pair mostly roost farther along the branch towards the trunk, but as the sun has crossed the sky, they have shuffled along the branch to stay in the sunshine. Today was cold.

The spot where these birds usually sit is farther to the right, as can be seen by the worn red bark on the branch and a fluff of cast down below where they normally sit.

The frogmouths sit fluffed up and huddled into a rounded shape to keep warm, and by snuggling up close to one another the pair gain extra warmth.

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.