Papuan frogmouth

Podargus papuensis

SUBFAMILY

Podarginae

TAXONOMY

Podargus papuensis Quoy and Gaimard, 1830, Arfak Peninsula, New Guinea. Monotypic.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Giant or great Papuan frogmouth; French: Podarge papou; German: Papuaschwalm; Spanish: Podargo Papú.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

18–24 in (45–60 cm); 9–20 oz (256–570 g). Largest member of its genus. Male's upperparts elaborately patterned in light and dark, but overall appear gray-brown; underparts are lighter brown-gray with white spots and bars and blackish streaking. Females are typically browner or more rufous than males.

DISTRIBUTION

Queensland; New Guinea and satellite islands.

HABITAT

Forest, woodland, wooded savanna.

BEHAVIOR

Roosts by day in tree cover, often a pair together; active at night in territory.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Swoops from perch to catch prey mainly on ground, taking large insects and small vertebrates such as frogs and rodents.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Nests on a platform in tree, containing clutch of one or rarely two eggs. Daytime incubation by male; incubation and fledging periods unknown.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Known to tribespeople in New Guinea, who have given descriptions of a "gaping" posture, possibly used for fly catching.