This evening I had a pair of Marbled Frogmouths in the Mapleton Forest
Reserve in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The birds were quite vocal given
the time of year.
This is the seventh pair of Marbled Frogmouths I've found in the Blackall
Range since last October, at six different sites.
When I found the plumiferus race of Marbled Frogmouth in the Conondale
Range, not far from here, in 1976, the subspecies - restricted to southeast
Queensland and northeast NSW - had not been seen for several decades; its
call was unknown. It is hard to believe now that the frogmouth went
undetected for so long, especially given its unsual and amply audible
vocalisations. Yet prior to the 1976 discovery, I and birding colleagues
such as Chris Corben and Glen Ingram spent many a night camped in suitable
habitat, including several times at the site where I found them, without any
sign of Marbled Frogmouths. The same can be said for many other observers,
even though nocturnal birding back then was a bit of a niche market and not
as popular as it is now.
There are only two explanations. Either it was case of extraordinary chance
that the birds were overlooked, or for some unknown reason, the population
increased shortly before or during the mid-1970s. If the latter, there may
be a glimmer of hope yet for the frog Rheobatrachus silus and Coxen's
Fig-Parrot, among other lost critters.
Greg Roberts
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