Did You Know?
- The Sri Lankan Frogmouth are shy birds that are hardly ever seen during the day so you need to be awake early or late to catch them.
- If they become frightened they will open their beak an point it upward – they often look like a jagged and broken branch.
- They only lay one egg at a time – a White coloured one.
- These birds normally live in forest habitats, and can easily be overlooked due to their colours and camouflaging.
- The chicks are White and fluffy when born and then later get their camouflage colours of Grey-Brown so they blend in with their backgrounds and the branches. The females are usually more of a Chestnut-Brown colour.
A Bird watchers Delight
Tourist and bird watchers are normally very passionate about seeing these strange birds. You will normally only find them in Sri Lanka or on the Western Ghats in India. Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan Frogumouth is not the easiest bird to spot. You see, they are related to the nightjars and as such you will only see them at night, unless their roost is disturbed or they are startled. They didn’t develop this nocturnal habit just because they are party animals but because it makes avoiding predators a much easier task.
Lets Make Some Noise
The Sri Lankan Frogmouth bird tends to make the most noise at dusk (early evening when the sun is setting). The female will make a strange “shkeerauuw” sound that ends with a number of hiccups! Poor bird probably just needs a glass of water. Both the male and female will also produce a rapid “skwar-skwar-skwar-skwar” noise when calling one another. These unique birds are usually noisiest during breeding season, which is between January to April in southern India and February to March in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Frogmouth is certainly a species to put down on your “go and see” list at some point in the future. If you are ever able to see it then consider yourself to be lucky.
