Tawny Frogmouth chicks:

vulnerable when fledging

Tawny Frogmouth chicks are now fledging in Canberra, and unfortunately there have been some heavy and prolonged rainstorms at the same time. This has caused some chicks to be grounded when they fly between trees and if they stay there, they can be vulnerable to predators such as cats and foxes - both introduced pest species. Every year, people find such grounded fledgling frogmouths and are tempted to take them home to save them. After all, they are the most Instagrammable bird in the world, with their fluffiness, big forward facing eyes and apparent sad mouth-line. See the scientific paper below that describes the relevant study:

Thommes, K. & Havn-Leichsenring, G. (2021). What Instagram can teach us about bird photography and color preferences. i-Perception, 12: 20416695211003585.

This chick was low to the ground, on a fallen branch, but its sibling had disappeared. It probably died during the heavy rain in the previous night after grounding in the tall grass and weeds that are growing all through the woods this year due to the rain. The birds cannot climb up out of tall wet grass and can quickly succumb to exposure. 

It is difficult for me to walk through the tall grass and weeds. It must be deadly for frogmouth fledglings. And I have seen this happen before.

Nevertheless, please do not pick these birds up and take them home. They are not pets. The best thing to do is place them on a nearby branch, up off the ground, as high as possible and walk away quietly, without drawing attention of any predatory birds that might be watching, such as ravens or currawongs. The chick's parents will be watching them, like the adult pair in the background of this picture.

And the chicks have a very good threat display, if they are attacked. Although even that pose makes them very Instagrammable. 

 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.