Birding

Tawny Frogmouth family in a supermarket car park

March 26, 2017 by Clare M 10 Comments

Last year I introduced you to a Tawny Frogmouth family north of Broome and the nest that they built followed by the family that they raised. This year we have been lucky enough to have the pair of Tawny Frogmouths in the local supermarket car park nest and raise one young. There are not many trees in the car park, but they had found one suitable to nest and the advantage of the car park is the lighting that will attract insects for their food. It is also very close to Broome’s airport, which will also offer more lighting and more insects. The local Sport’s Oval is very close by, which also has huge light towers and will therefore attract more insects. The Tawny Frogmouth family is actually in a tree between two rows of cars and appear oblivious to all the comings and goings, though they are nocturnal birds and very well camouflaged.

Tawny Frogmouth and young in February

The Tawny Frogmouths are so well camouflaged that they are almost invisible unless you know what you are looking for. These photos are recent and the Tawny Frogmouth family are busy watching the world go by from their tree in the supermarket car park.

Tawny Frogmouth adult

If you are struggling to see a Tawny Frogmouth in the photo above then I will help out with a cropped image, so you can see the eye slit and then hopefully see the Tawny Frogmouth.

Tawny Frogmouth head

In the photo below the Tawny Frogmouth eye is open slightly more, so maybe you can now see the bird with the hint of the location of the eye in the above photo!

Tawny Frogmouth adult

The other adult Tawny Frogmouth was just above the one young bird and not paying too much attention to what was going on, but the young Tawny Frogmouth looked very inquisitive!

Adult and young Tawny Frogmouth

The young Tawny Frogmouth has not learnt yet that open eyes give it away! No doubt it is very curious about the world that it is being raised in!

Young Tawny Frogmouth

Tawny Frogmouths are a bird that are more often heard than seen, but when you do come across them they are either heavily camouflaged adults or wide-eyed young birds intrigued about what is going on in their surrounds.

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!