- Batrachostomus auritus
Identification
40-43 cm (16 inch). The largest of the Asian frogmouths.
- Chestnut to light brown upperparts with pale bars on scapulars and blackish-edged white or buffy white spots on wing-coverts
- Rufous-brown underparts, often with some buff to white spots.
Sexes similar.
Juveniles have mainly grey-brown upperparts with fine vermiculation of pale buff and light grey-brown underparts with rufous tinge, paler on belly.
Distribution
Patchily on the Malay Peninsula (from southern Thailand to Malaysia), on Sumatra, on Borneo and nearby North Natuna Island and Labuan Island.
Uncommon to rare in its range. Extremely rare in Thailand, rare in Malaysia, very uncommon in Borneo. Almost certainly declining due to ongoing destruction of lowland rainforest.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecies with Dulit Frogmouth.
Habitat
Lowland primary rainforest. Also recorded from secondary forest, swamp forest and forest on alluvial soils.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on cicadas and grasshoppers. Catches insects on the ground by sallying from branches.
Breeding
Breeding season unclear. The nest is a small but thick, circular pad of fine down firmly attached to a slender branch of a shrub or sapling. One nest was 1.3 m above the ground. Lays 1 egg.
Movements
Apparently a sedentary species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and J Sargatal, eds. 1999. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 5: Barn-Owls to Hummingbirds. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334252
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Large Frogmouth. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Large_Frogmouth
