Large frogmouth

Batrachostomus auritus

SUBFAMILY

Batrachostominae

TAXONOMY

Podargus auritus J. E. Gray, 1829, Sumatra. Monotypic.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

French: Podarge oreillard; German: Riesenfroschmaul; Spanish: Podargo Orejudo.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

16–17 in (40–43 cm); 7.25 oz (206 g). Largest Asian frog-mouth. Upperparts are chestnut to light brown with pale bars on scapulars and blackish-edged whitish spots on wing coverts; underparts are rufous brown with buff to white spots. Coloration of males and females is similar.

DISTRIBUTION

Thailand, Peninsular Malaya, Sumatra, and Borneo.

HABITAT

Lowland rainforest.

BEHAVIOR

Little known; daytime roosts in canopy or tree-hole; active only at night.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Diet of insects including cicadas and grasshoppers.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Tiny nest on branch of shrub or sapling, with clutch of single egg.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Near Threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.