Frogmouth
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 Tawny Frogmouth, Sydney, Australia
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Podargus |
The frogmouths are a group of nocturnal birds related to the nightjars. They are found from India across southern Asia to Australia.
They are named for their large flattened hooked bills and huge frog-like gape, which they use to take insects. Their flight is weak.
They rest horizontally on branches during the day, camouflaged by their cryptic plumage. Up to three white eggs are laid in the fork of a branch, and are incubated by the female at night and the male in the day.
The three Podargus species are large frogmouths restricted to Australia and New Guinea, and have massive flat broad bills. The ten Batrachostomus frogmouths are found in tropical Asia. They have smaller, more rounded bills.
Recent research suggests that the two groups may not be as closely related as previously thought, and that the Asian species may be separable as a new family, the Batrachostomidae[citation needed]. Usually placed in the order Caprimulgiformes, another recent study has cast doubt on the frogmouths' placement within that order.[1] Alternately they may be distinct enough to warrant an order of their own, Podargiformes, as Gregory Mathews has already proposed in 1918[citation needed]
Genus Podargus
- Tawny Frogmouth, Podargus strigoides
- Marbled Frogmouth, Podargus ocellatus
- Papuan Frogmouth, Podargus papuensis
Genus Batrachostomus
- Large Frogmouth, Batrachostomus auritus
- Dulit Frogmouth, Batrachostomus harterti
- Philippine Frogmouth, Batrachostomus septimus
- Gould's Frogmouth, Batrachostomus stellatus
- Sri Lanka Frogmouth, Batrachostomus moniliger
- Hodgson's Frogmouth, Batrachostomus hodgsoni
- Short-tailed Frogmouth, Batrachostomus poliolophus
- Javan Frogmouth, Batrachostomus javensis
- Sunda Frogmouth, Batrachostomus cornutus
[edit] References
- ^ Mayr, G. (2002): Osteological evidence for paraphyly of the avian order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and allies). Journal für Ornithologie 143(1): 82–97. DOI:10.1046/j.1439-0361.2002.01030.x HTML abstract
[edit] External links
- Frogmouth videos on the Internet Bird Collection
