Dulit Frogmouth
Batrachostomus harterti
Large frogmouth of Borneo’s central mountains. Inhabits foothill forest (typically 600–1230 m). Heavyset, with a whiskered face and bright white spots on the wings. Similar Large Frogmouth is generally found at lower elevations; Dulit has broader (as opposed to Large’s sharply triangular) white wing spots, strong pale barring on the throat, and overall darker coloration. Song is a low, resonant, melancholy-sounding “hooooo’m”; call consists of barks, typically given in pairs: “woo’WUP!”.
Identification
It is a large, dark, chestnut-brown frogmouth, ranging in length from 32 to 37 cm. The wing length is 220 to 250 mm. It has buffish barring on the crown and a narrow buffish collar on the hindneck. The wing-coverts have large white spots. The underparts are paler brown with buff bars and spots. The sexes are similar.<p>The only other frogmouth of comparable size in Borneo is the large frogmouth (B. auritus), with which the Dulit frogmouth forms a superspecies. The large frogmouth is slightly larger (with a length of 39 – 42 cm) and paler; the crown is spotted and vermiculated rather than barred, the wing-coverts more heavily spotted, and the underparts plainer. No other frogmouth found in Borneo is more than 30 cm in length.<p>The call is not known for certain, though Tom Harrisson recorded a call in the Kelabit Highlands, which he attributed to this species, as "tuab tuab". The Kelabit name for the frogmouth is Tu’ub or Suit tu’ub.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Batrachostomus harterti
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1892
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Podargidae
- Genus
- Batrachostomus
Range and habitat
The frogmouth is endemic to Borneo. Only eight museum specimens are known, taken from Mount Dulit, the Usun Apau Plateau and the Kelabit Highlands in Sarawak, and from Mount Liang Kubung in West Kalimantan. It has also been seen near Poring in the Kinabalu National Park in Sabah.<p>Its preferred habitat is lower montane forest of both primary and secondary growth, at an elevation of 300 to 1500 m above sea level. At Mount Dulit it replaces the more widespread large frogmouth altitudinally, the latter being found at lower levels.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Very little is known of this frogmouth's breeding or feeding habits. A female specimen taken on 19 November was ready to lay eggs. The stomach of a specimen taken in the Kelabit Highlands was full of locusts or grasshoppers.
Conservation
The range of the Dulit frogmouth is estimated at 127,000 km2 and decreasing. It is restricted to the Bornean Mountains Endemic Bird Area and is threatened by habitat loss through logging and agricultural development. Its conservation status is considered by BirdLife International to be Near Threatened. Proposed conservation measures include the investigation of the species’ ecology and the protection of suitable habitat.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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