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Ah yes Tony but the feet of owls are VERY different
to the feet of nightjars (the frogmouth of course being of the latter group and
not at all close to an owl). So a Boobook perching
on the wires of a Hills hoist is unremarkable but a Frogmouth is quite another
story.
Owls have strong zygodactyl (two toes forward &
two toes backward) feet used for catching prey and nightjars don't. The feet of
any ORDER of birds are generally quite different to the feet of any other ORDER
of birds but this is especially so comparing owls' feet to the feet of
nightjars. As in number, direction, location of attachment and form of toes,
presence or absence of full or partial webbing and which toes it includes. This
point is one of the many, sadly lost on the many people that like to think of
Families as the major subdivisions of birds.
Philip
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