Frogmouths In My Garden

FROGMOUTHS IN MY GARDEN

By Valerie Waldby

For a number of years I have observed Tawny Frogmouths calling my
garden home. {Frogmouths are also known as Frogmouth Owl or Morepork}
Maleny has a great variety of bird life, and many residents are bird
watchers. Everybody is excited when
Frogmouths are located. I have seen them taking the sun, or mostly
sleeping, in a number of different trees, from early morning till
sunset, when once more the nightly hunt for food begins. At dusk they
leave their perch, drop to the ground, and scavenge around before
flying off to do some serious hunting. Most of the time they appear to
stay in pairs. My account is about a family I have watched carefully
over a the years, and their last two nesting seasons.

Some time ago I observed a pair of Frogmouths sitting in a Banksia tree
outside my kitchen window .They sat there daily for about two weeks,
and as nesting season was almost here, I hoped this was a sign that
they were planning to build. I had been hoping for this event ever
since I moved into the area. Was this going to be my lucky year? Much
to my disappointment they vanished soon after. A daily walk round my
garden failed to find them. I had previously counted them in seven
different trees on my property, and many times traced them through
their grunty, drum like call to each other, they can adopt a stick like
pose, and blend their mottled plumage into any tree they perch in,
their feathers can be a range of colours from silver-grey to various
shades of brown so it can be very difficult to spot them.

Shortly after I noticed they had moved to a Flame tree in my back
garden. A few days later a collection of untidy looking twigs and
sticks appeared on a limb in that tree. It was very messy and untidy,
but I knew this was their habit of nest building, and sure enough it
was the beginning of a Frogmouth's nest. Each day it progressed, still
looking very flimsy, and this was to be their home for the next two
months. Mother Frogmouth sat on that little pile of sticks for the next
four weeks. It was impossible for me to see into the nest as her fluffy
body covered most of the available space. She sat there so patiently
day in and day out, sometimes changing position, ruffling her feathers,
and taking the afternoon sun. Her food was supplied and delivered by
her devoted mate, who sat nearby through the day, and flew off at
sunset on his nightly hunt for prey.

Daily I watched the nest for some sign of the baby chicks appearing.
After many days and hours of observing , a tiny little fluffy head
appeared at the feet of mother Frogmouth. It stayed in view for only a
few minutes before pulling back to mother's feathery warmth. I
patiently watched this procedure over the next week or so. Sometimes I
waited for over twenty minutes for this little head to appear. One day
after waiting for almost an hour with no activity, I knew something was
wrong, and there on the ground under the flimsy nest lay a stiff little
yellow bird. It was a very sad discovery after all the waiting and
watching. Much to my surprise she was still sitting on her nest the
next day, and next to her sat her mate . I had imagined she would leave
with no chick to care for. It then dawned on me she had another baby I
had not seen, and sure enough after much patient watching I glimpsed
another chick. As I did not want a second baby falling to the ground, I
hastily erected a large net (normally used to protect my fruit trees)
under the nest area. The second chick grew very quickly and I happily
watched its progress. Unfortunately a few days later we experienced a
very windy cold snap and on my morning check I was alarmed to see the
nest had been abandoned. It was hard to understand why. Later that
windy day I discovered another little dead yellow bird in my netting.
It had died in the night from the cold and the parent birds abandoned
the nest leaving their dead baby behind. I believe a gust of wind had
blown it into the net that was there to save it. It was a sad end to
the little family.

Over the next few months I occasionally saw the birds in my garden, or
in the next door property. Soon after I went away for a holiday. I knew
nesting time had come and gone and I thought they had managed to escape
my ever watchful eyes. On returning home , my neighbour greeted me with
some very exciting news. He directed me to the long skinny branch of a
Tee tree, and there sat a Frogmouth family, with not one, or two, but
three gorgeous babies, which I believe to be very rare and special in
Frogmouth families. After losing their family last season they had
successfully reared three birds this year.

I watched this family almost daily over the next couple of months. They
were a very tame group of birds, and would not stir even when I came
quite close to them. I believe the parents wanted to show off their
babies, and one morning on looking out my kitchen window spied the
whole family sitting in a row on my deck railing. Thinking they would
fly off as I approached, I was astonished as they let me come within
touching distance of them Much to my surprise they were there again the
next morning, and they repeated this daily visit for another eight to
ten days. They followed the same ritual every day , and I had the best
seat in the house . Each day they arrived before dawn, after a night of
hunting, perched on my railing, dozed through the day, changing
position every so often. As the babies grew they appeared to sleep a
lot less then their parents, and would often act like bored little
children, eager to explore their surroundings. The camaraderie this
little family of Frogmouths created in the area was amazing. We had
many friends and bird lovers come to see and admire our little
family.

I knew time would fast approach when the babies would start life on
their own,, when the evening ritual would included the babies following
their parents in the nightly food hunt. At dusk mother or father
Frogmouth would stretch one wing , then the other, ruffle its feathers
and give a grunty call for all to follow. One by one the family
followed their lead. They silently dropped to the ground and scratched
around for a short time, then like a game of musical chairs hopped from
limb to limb, each bird taking the place of the other. This exercise
lasted for ten minutes before mother and father Frogmouth were engulfed
in the dusky night, closely followed by three hungry little birds eager
to start the nightly hunt.

I gradually saw less and less of my little family after that, although
I did spot them from time to time in the area. At the moment I have one
lonely Frogmouth sitting in a Tee tree very close to my house. He or
she has been there daily for the last three months, sleeping through
the day and only flying off at night on the food hunt. It perches daily
on the same limb. As nesting season approaches again I am anxious to
see what will happen to my bird with no mate. Frogmouths like to hunt
on roadways and, I believe a lot fall victim to motor cars. I hope by
nesting time his mate, or a new mate turns up to keep my saga going, I
have christened him Fortescue and his mate was Freda. He is quite a
forlorn sight at the moment. Only time will tell what will happen next.
As my garden appears to be their chosen territory, am hoping one or all
of the triplets will build their home in one of my trees, when the time
comes to do so. It would complete the cycle.