Frogmouth

Taxobox
name = Frogmouths

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image_caption = Tawny Frogmouth, at night
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
unranked_ordo = Cypselomorphae
ordo = see text
familia = Podargidae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Podargus"
"Batrachostomus"
"Rigidipenna"

The frogmouths are a group of nocturnal birds related to the nightjars. They are found from India across southern Asia to Australia.

They are named for their large flattened hooked bills and huge frog-like gape, which they use to take insects. Their flight is weak.

They rest horizontally on branches during the day, camouflaged by their cryptic plumage. Up to three white eggs are laid in the fork of a branch, and are incubated by the female at night and the male in the day.

The three "Podargus" species are large frogmouths restricted to Australia and New Guinea, and have massive flat broad bills. They are known to take larger prey such as small vertebrates (frogs, mice, etc.), which are sometimes beaten against a stone before swallowing.cite book| last = Perrins| first = Christopher| title = Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds| publisher = Firefly Books| date = 2003| pages = 342| isbn = 1-55297-777-3] The ten "Batrachostomus" frogmouths are found in tropical Asia. They have smaller, more rounded bills and are predominantly insectivorous. Both "Podargus" and "Batrachostomus" have bristles around the base of the bill, and "Batrachostomus" has other, longer bristles which may exist to protect the eyes from insect prey. In April 2007, a new species of frogmouth was described from the Solomon Islands and placed in a newly established genus, "Rigidipenna".Cleere et al. 2007. A new genus of frogmouth (Podargidae) from the Solomon Islands – results from a taxonomic review of "Podargus ocellatus inexpectatus" Hartert 1901. "Ibis" 149: 271-286]

Recent research suggests that the two frogmouth groups may not be as closely related as previously thought, and that the Asian species may be separable as a new family, the BatrachostomidaeFact|date=February 2007. Usually placed in the order Caprimulgiformes, another recent study has cast doubt on the frogmouths' placement within that order, [Mayr, G. (2002): Osteological evidence for paraphyly of the avian order Caprimulgiformes (nightjars and allies). "Journal für Ornithologie" 143(1): 82–97. DOI|10.1046/j.1439-0361.2002.01030.x [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1439-0361.2002.01030.x HTML abstract] ] and they may be distinct enough to warrant an order of their own, Podargiformes, as Gregory Mathews proposed in 1918.Fact|date=February 2007

Genus "Podargus"
* Tawny Frogmouth, "Podargus strigoides"
* Marbled Frogmouth, "Podargus ocellatus"
* Papuan Frogmouth, "Podargus papuensis"Genus "Batrachostomus"
* Large Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus auritus"
* Dulit Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus harterti"
* Philippine Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus septimus"
* Gould's Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus stellatus"
* Sri Lanka Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus moniliger"
* Hodgson's Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus hodgsoni"
* Short-tailed Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus poliolophus"
* Javan Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus javensis"
* Sunda Frogmouth, "Batrachostomus cornutus"Genus "Rigidipenna"
* Solomon Islands Frogmouth, "Rigidipenna inexpectata"

References

External links

* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=80 Frogmouth videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://www.physorg.com/news96218125.html Scientists discover new genus of frogmouth bird in Solomon Islands]