mount roger frogmouths

[martin butterfield <>]

Tim

Some good questions.  I will try to answer them WRT the family which I have been following (and of course a sample of 1 is not very representative).

I have never seen them actually make their initial flight but can comment on where they make their roost the next day after the flight.  Last year it was about 30m from the nest site and this year about 70m (although I have a suspicion that this year  they may have flown and returned to the same branch as the nest for a couple of nights.  Most days throughout the year the adults roost within an area about 70m square: I know that they travel further than that as they hunt, but have no evidence how far.  Gisela Kaplan's book reviews some estimates of territory size but could be summarised as saying that there is little known.  

The whole family then seems to travel around together for about 2 months (until the last week of December).  I have found it very difficult to find any of them in January suggesting they may be roosting out of my GBS site (or are particularly well-concealed within it).  However when I have found the birds in January it has only been the adults.  My interpretation of this sequence of events is that the parents train the chicks in how to survive until

• they eject the chicks from their territory; or
• the chicks decide to move out.

When I come across them at night in November /December it tends to be just a single bird which suggests they are hunting independently.  However I don't generally search for them at night since they deserve a bit of private time!

Hope this helps.

Martin

On 16 November 2012 22:17, Tim Birch <> wrote:

I went back up to check out the frogmouth nest at Mt Roger late
afternoon. 2 chicks causing some discomfort for the adult sitting bird
who didnt seem to be able to get into any comfortable position for too
long due to the size of the chicks - seems they will fledge surely
within next 24-48 hrs.

Not knowing too much about frogmouths when they fledge can anyone tell
me how far they initially fledge from the nest ? Will they remain in the
area close to the nest for a short period and how quickly will they then
disperse more widely ? For how long do the adult birds feed the fledglings?

thanks

Tim

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--
Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/