Javan Frogmouth
Batrachostomus javensis
Endemic to Java, where it is the only frogmouth. Fairly typical-looking small frogmouth, with brown plumage broken up by white patches and pale barring on the tail. Readily separated from nightjars by its upright pose and forward-facing eyes, and from owls by its bristly “whiskered” face, lack of a facial disc, large broad-based bill, and long tail. Inhabits a wide range of wooded habitats from lowlands up into montane foothills, from dense rainforests to the edges of large plantations with suitable tall growth. Nocturnal, and can be difficult to spot on day roost. Gives a variety of calls, including a series of descending whistles, a high-pitched growl followed by a strangled whistle, and short, grating screams.
Identification
The species grows to a length of about 22 cm (9 in). The upper parts are a mixture of brown, grey, buff and white, spotted with black. The scapulars have several large oval white spots. There is a white stripe above the eye and a white semi-collar. The underparts are brown with buff, cinnamon and white speckling. The flanks and belly are generally paler, with some brown barring. Female birds are rather tawnier and brighter than males, and juveniles are similar to the adults but paler and duller. The beak is brown, the iris yellow and the legs brown.
Taxonomy
The Javan frogmouth was first described in 1821 by the American naturalist Thomas Horsfield as Batrachostomus javensis. The species was later split by Sibley and Monroe into B. javensis and B. affinis in 1990 and 1993, and in 1997, B. pygmaeus, was described by Alviola as being a species "new to science". However, Holyoak in 1999 and Dickinson in 2003, synonymized these new species with B. javensis.
- Scientific name
- Batrachostomus javensis
- Authority
- (Horsfield, 1821)
- Order
- Caprimulgiformes
- Family
- Podargidae
- Genus
- Batrachostomus
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Like other frogmouths, this species is nocturnal and crepuscular. It feeds on such insects as butterflies and moths, ants, grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, earwigs, cockroaches, caterpillars and small molluscs. Food may be picked up from the ground or gleaned from foliage and branches, or perhaps caught on the wing. It roosts fairly close to the ground, singly or in pairs, crosswise on small branches. It sometimes perches at the top of tall trees during the night.<p>The nest is built on a low, level branch about 4.5 cm (1.8 in) in diameter and is a very shallow cup made of moss, downy feathers and bark fragments. One or two oval white eggs are laid and are incubated by the parent bird lying along the branch.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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A distinctive wattle-eye with iridescent blue-black upperparts and throat, off-white underparts, and bright green eye wattles. Unlike many other wattle-eyes, sexes are similar, with the female looking like a male with dull plumage. Similar to Red-cheeked Wattle-eye, with which it overlaps locally in western Cameroon. Where overlap occurs, Black-necked Wattle-eye is found at higher elevations and shows more off-white underparts, brighter green eye wattles, and a uniformly iridescent black head and throat. Song varies, but is often a distinctive phrase of two high rising whistles and then two lower ones, “sweeswee-huuhuu.”
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