Jon Atkinson - Wildlife And Travel Photographer

Tawny Frogmouths

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Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth 1 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: The tawny frogmouth was first described in 1801 by English naturalist John Latham. Its specific epithet is derived from the Latin strix meaning “owl” and oides meaning “form”. .
Tawny Frogmouth 2 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: Tawny frogmouths belong to the frogmouth genus Podargus which includes the two other species of frogmouths found within Australia, the marbled frogmouth and the Papuan frogmouth.
Tawny Frogmouth 3 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: Tawny frogmouths are large, big-headed birds that can measure from 34 to 53 cm (13 to 21 in) long. Weights have been recorded of up to 680 g (1.50 lb) in the wild.
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth 4 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: Tawny frogmouths are stocky and compact with rounded wings and short legs. They have wide, heavy olive-grey to blackish bills that are hooked at the tip and topped with distinctive tufts of bristles.
Tawny Frogmouth 5 -Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: Tawny frogmouths have three distinct colour morphs, grey being the most common in both sexes. Males of this morph have silver-grey upperparts with black streaks and slightly paler underparts with white barring and brown to rufous mottling.
Tawny Frogmouth 6 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: One of the best examples of cryptic plumage and mimicry in Australian birds is seen in the tawny frogmouth who perch low on tree branches during the day camouflaged as part of the tree.
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: Their silvery-grey plumage patterned with white, black, and brown streaks and mottles allows them to freeze into the form of a broken tree branch and become practically invisible in broad daylight.
Tawny Frogmouth 8 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: The tawny frogmouth will often choose a broken part of a tree branch and perch upon it with its head thrust upwards at an acute angle using its very large, broad beak to emphasise the resemblance.
Tawny Frogmouth 9 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia:When threatened, adult tawny frogmouths will make an alarm call that signals to chicks to remain silent and immobile ensuring that the natural camouflage provided by the plumage is not broken.
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth 11 - Tawny Frogmouth, Victoria, Australia: The wide distribution range of the tawny frogmouth includes areas of the Australian continent where winter night temperatures regularly approach 8 °C and warm summers can see extremes of up to 40 °C.

  All photography is copyright © Jon Atkinson and images may not be reposted without express permission. Text courtesy of wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_frogmouth