How To Find Tawny Frogmouths?

Yoshistar888

Yoshistar888

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
How is one supposed to find a tawny frogmouth, a lot of people I’ve met have seen one and so many people see them outside their houses, how do I find one. I’ve done day and dusk birding trips at many places where Tawnys are recorded daily and I’ve even spotlighted in the edge of the Otways for them.

Sorry for ranting but it’s just so frustrating, even my sister of all people has seen one and took a photo of it and sent it to me as she didn’t know what it was, and it was right outside her school. Meanwhile the birder is carrying a 10kg pack trekking 7km through the Otways with multitudes of ants that cause anaphylactic reactions in 1.5% of the population. Did I forget to mention the ants are immunogenic too, oh and slipping into small muddy pool filled which leeches only after getting that food out the amount of mud imbalances and I fall into the mud with both my legs in that water.

Oh I forgot to mention the moonlight night tour where of all people Chilidonias saw one and what I get is a giant ball of mosquitoes in my face.

oh and that time I accidentally stepped on a jack jumper nest at king lake national park, I was running for the hills after that, lucky I wasn’t stung.

How many failed ventures have I had in the last 9 months?
Let’s count

1 Otways venture (3 days) including trekking and spotlighting
1 Swan Lake
3 Banyle Flats
1 Kinglake National park (just a day)
1 day and night in the Dandenongs
1 night and day at Moonlit Sanctuary
1 Yarra Bend Park


I’m sorry this is just a really big frustration of mine.
 
Yoshistar888 said:
How is one supposed to find a tawny frogmouth
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One does not simply find a Tawny Frogmouth. Well, okay, maybe one does. Have you tried any of the botanic gardens in or around the city? They seem to be pretty good at Cranbourne Gardens so that seems like the easiest answer for you. When you're there, ask in the visitor centre if they can help - the gardeners will usually know where they have been seen.


Yoshistar888 said:
Oh I forgot to mention the moonlight night tour where of all people Chilidonias saw one
Click to expand...
I'm not sure you're using that phrase correctly. Why "of all people"?
 
My wife found a Tawny Frogmouth quite easily when staying with her sister in Australia. It was in a bush outside the back door.
I managed not to see Palawan Frogmouth on that island. Oyrx guide said he could guarantee seeing the frogmouth, but Palawan Scops Owl was more problematical. So, of course, we had great views of the owl, and missed the frogmouth.
 
You can’t really go looking for a tawny frogmouth, you kind of just stumble upon them. But your looking in the wrong places. The chances of you finding one in the bush is limited. They can be seen much easier in urban areas. I’ve never found a tawny Frogmouth in the bush, but I have seen at least twenty in urban areas or in very close proximity to houses.

They can sometimes be found around lampposts and roads at night. During the day time look where large branches meet the main trunks of trees. This is where I have seen almost all of the tawny Frogmouths I have come across. They seem to favourite gum trees and paper barks when roosting during the day. If you see a lump on a tree that doesn’t like right or doesn’t look natural check it out as there is a fair chance it could be a tawny frogmouth.

I have seen over 20 tawny frogmouths in the wild. Only 2 of those were at night and only one was found away from houses.
 
If you learn to recognise the calls, especially the soft "cooing" contact call, you will be able to track them to where they are perched, often on a branch close to the trunk of a tree. At times these birds seem to almost disappear from an area, but at other times are not too hard to find. Right now there are no sign of them where I live, but usually their calls can be heard throughout the night.
 
Frogmouths are everywhere and nowhere. You just have to keep your eyes open. Local parks are good places to look. Otway forests not so much as the vegetarian is thick and the trees too tall. You will see them sooner or later.
 
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