Clever camouflage
If you’ve noticed that the broken branch above you has eyes that are peering out of sleepy eyelids now and again, you are not alone.
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I was at the dog park recently watching our labrador race around sniffing things furiously. The park was abuzz with humans and their best friends.
In the middle of the cacophony, in impressive camouflage, a tawny frogmouth posed just above my head.
Mistaken for an owl
These blurry-eyed bundles of cute are often mistaken for owls but in fact, they are distantly related.
So if not an owl, then what? Frogmouths are a family of 15 species that occupy India, South-east Asia and Australia.
Although they are active at night like owls, there are some telling differences.
Where an owl has strong talons to silently pluck an unassuming small mammal from its daily duties, tawny frogmouths mostly pounce on prey from overhanging branches and capture them using their mouth.
Like most birds, they have a distinctive call.
They will eat insects, lizards or anything small enough to fit in their perfect little beak. The beak faces forward and the eyes sit on the sides of their head, another telling difference.
Where owls nest in hollows, tawny frogmouths raise their young on a platform of twigs placed precariously in a cozy tree fork. The male will tend to the eggs during the day and the female takes over at night.
Call of the evening
Like most birds, they have a distinctive call. You may hear repeated ooos late in the evening and this can be hollered by either sex.
If you are interested in honing your bird calls, it’s easy to download a bird identification app. It’s a step up from Pokemon Go and a fun way to learn the songs and species around you.
Tawny frogmouths are socially monogamous, staying with the same mate for life.
They occupy a territory so if you have a pair living in your garden, you can get to know them over time.
Handy to have around
They are a useful species because they can tough it out in urban areas, where they serve as pest control on the nocturnal insects that buzz around.
They do require trees to roost so it’s always a good idea to plant native species around the house to create habitat for these spectacular friends.
Feral species like Felix the pussycat can cause grief for much of our native wildlife so locking your pets up at night (or better yet, getting sea monkeys instead) can help make our gardens wildlife friendly.
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