I've been thinking of looking for Marbled Frogmouths near Brisbane (heard
one once this time last year at Mt Tambourine). Can people give me any good
ID hints for separating these guys from the common Tawnys.
Plumed Frogmouths call any time of year, but are best in September to
December. ID from Tawny is not really much of an issue. If it's easy to see
and out in the open, the chances are extremely high that it's a Tawny. If
it's extremely difficult to see, was found by following its call, and is
high up in a rainforest tree surrounded by dense vegetation, then it's
probably a Plumed. In terms of plumage, there are several differences, but
they are hard to see and subject to a great deal of variation. Possibly the
single most useful feature is that the primaries are banded with brown as
well as black and white in Plumed, just black and white in Tawny, but even
that is probably not 100% consistent.
At this time of year, they are likely to call just before dawn and just
after dark, but may not say anything all the rest of the night. A very
exciting way to see them is to track them down from their pre-dawn calls. If
you get lucky, you may find them roosting, which can be high up in a tree or
low down, even on the ground. Be warned, they are very shy during the day,
so your approach must be very careful!
Cheers, Chris.
Chris Corben
www.hoarybat.com
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