Tawny Frogmouths

The Tawny Frogmouth is an enigmatic bird of the night, difficult to find in daytime, typically well camouflaged amongst the branches of a tree, imitating a broken tree branch or loose piece of bark. There are three species of Frogmouth in Australia, the Tawny Frogmouth (50 cm) seen Australia wide, the huge Papuan Frogmouth (60 cm) seen in Cape York and the Marbled Frogmouth (46 cm) seen in the very north and the south east corner of Queensland.

This female Tawny Frogmouth is roosting close to the nest where her partner sits with two young chicks, not far from Sydney’s busy Oxford street in Centennial Park.

Frogmouths eat insects, spiders and frogs and even small birds and mammals. They tend to nest in the same area over a number of years. In Sydney’s Centennial Park there are three pairs nesting at the moment.

The male bird supervises the two restless chicks. Tawny Frogmouth nests are flimsy and look quite precarious as the chicks get larger. This pair have chosen a medium sized Malaleuca tree for their nest.

Another family of Tawny Frogmouths in Sydney’s Centennial Park. The chicks are older and have left their nest.

This Tawny Frogmouth nest is anchored by a single pine cone, wedged between two branches of a pine tree.

Spring at Booderee National Park

Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay on New South Wales’ south coast consists of 6,379 hectares of highly varied habitats plus 875 hectares of crystal clear waters of the bay. Booderee is a Dhurga word that means plentiful fish - the park is owned and managed by traditional owners together with Parks Australia. Vegetation communities include eucalypt forest (Blackbutt and Bangalay), woodlands (Silvertop Ash and Bloodwood), dry and wet heathlands, coastal scrub and wetlands. The Booderee Botanical Gardens include relic rainforest (Hard Corkwood and Lilly Pilly).

Family of Tawny Frogmouths at Booderee Botanical Gardens.

Northern and southern vegetation types meet a Jervis Bay and the park is home to over 200 bird species. These include the endangered Eastern Bristlebird (see last week’s blog) and Eastern Ground Parrot. Little Penguins and three species of Shearwater breed on Bowen Island at the mouth of Jervis Bay.

This young Dusky Woodswallow, waiting to be fed by one of its parents, was seen at Hyams Heath Walk bordering Booderee National Park.

Another youngster, a Rufous Fantail at Hyams Heath Walk.