Tawny Frogmouths are some of the cutest birds around. They’re fluffy and cuddly, with an endearing tuft of feathers just above their beaks, and large eyes that glow brown and orange in the early light. I was strolling along a bush path when I noticed a group of three:

If you don’t spot the third bird immediately, that’s by design. Two of the birds are looking directly at me. The third is pretending to be part of the tree, with just one partly-open eye squinting at me. The bird is the furthest away of the three, and is partly hidden by the bird in the middle.

A closer view shows one bird hiding behind the other and trying to look like a broken tree branch:

When I first came along, the closest bird had a similar stance:

It takes a practiced eye to spot a Tawny Frogmouth. They’re nocturnal, and tend to stay very still during the daytime. And their camouflage is impressive. I was excited and awed to see three of them at once.

Although they look like owls, Tawny Frogmouths are actually members of the nightjar family. Like owls, they hunt at night, preying on large insects, spiders, frogs, and small animals. Unlike owls, they don’t catch their prey with their feet. To catch insects, they sometimes fly with their beaks open. Hence the very wide beak! One theory about the tuft of feathers above the beak is that it protects the eyes when the bird is hunting.

Here’s another view of the two Tawny Frogmouths that were huddled together:

Common name: Tawny Frogmouth
Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
Approximate length: 34-52 cm
Date spotted: 5 December 2022 (summer)
Location: Reef Beach Track, Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’23.1″S 151°16’21.2″E