The Sri Lanka frogmouth, Sri Lankan frogmouth or Ceylon frogmouth (''Batrachostomus moniliger'') is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Related to the

nightjar Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called bugeaters, their primary source of food ...

s, it is nocturnal and is found in forest habitats. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

coloration resembles that of dried leaves and the bird roosts quietly on branches, making it difficult to see. Each has a favourite roost that it uses regularly unless disturbed. It has a distinctive call that is usually heard at dawn and dusk. The sexes differ slightly in plumage.

Description

This bird reaches in length. Like all frogmouths, this species has a wide and hooked bill with slit-like nostrils and the large head with eyes facing forward to provide a wide field of

binocular vision Binocular vision is seeing with two eyes. The Field_of_view, field of view that can be surveyed with two eyes is greater than with one eye. To the extent that the visual fields of the two eyes overlap, #Depth, binocular depth can be perceived. Th ...

. Compared to others of its genus it has small wings, which are distinguished by the wing coverts ending in black spots tipped with white. The male is gray-brown with fine barring and a spotted crown. Some males are browner and look more similar to females. The female is more rufous or chestnut brown. Indian female birds have very fine black speckles on the crown but Sri Lankan females may lack or may have reduced markings. The bird also has short, stiff bristles in front of and surrounding the eyes. The Western Ghats population, ssp. ''roonwali'' (named after Mithan Lal Roonwal), looks very slightly different. The male has a brownish-gray wing mirror and yellowish spots on the undersides, compared to gray or white in the nominate Sri Lankan form. The female has a bright reddish-brown wing mirror and the wings are unspotted below.

Habitat and distribution

This species is found in the Western Ghats of southwest India and Sri Lanka. Its habitat is tropical forest, usually with dense undergrowth. It can sometimes be found in more disturbed habitats, including

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s. Its presence may be overlooked due to its nocturnal behaviour and

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

Behaviour

This frogmouth is rarely seen during the day except at roost sites or when flushed. It regularly uses the same roost spot for months. When alarmed at its perch, it slowly moves its head, pointing its bill upward, and it can easily be mistaken for a jagged, broken branch. It relies on this crypsis and will often sit still a long time before making an escape. It may open its mouth wide in a threat display. Like its congeners, it feeds on insects, catching them in flight or gleaning them from the ground or tree branches. It is sometimes mobbed at its day roost by small songbirds. It is vocal at dusk, the call of the female being a loud, screechy "shkeerauuw" which drops in volume and ends is a series of hiccups. Another call is a series of rapid "skwar-skwar-skwar" which is produced by both male and female. The breeding season in southern India is January to April, and in Sri Lanka February to March. The nest is a small pad made of moss lined with down and covered on the outside with

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s and bark. The bird incubates a single white egg, covering the nest and holding the tail flush with the tree, taking on the outline of a lichen-covered snag. The male often broods during the day, while both parents share the duty during the night. After the chick fledges, the male destroys the nest. The parents often use the same branch for multiple nestings. The juvenile may stay with the parents for a couple of months, huddling between them at the roost. Sri Lanka frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger moniliger) female on nest.jpg, ''B. m. moniliger'' female on nest, Gal Oya, Sri Lanka Srilankhan Frogmouth baby.JPG, ''B. m. roonwali'' on a nest with a recently hatched chick Ceylon Frogmouth by N.A. Naseer.jpg, ''B. m. roonwali'' young bird (middle) with adult female to left and male to right Sri Lanka frogmouth.jpg, ''B. m. roonwali'' at Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, India

References

External links

Internet Bird Collection

Calls on Xeno-Canto
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1267780

Sri Lanka frogmouth The Sri Lanka frogmouth, Sri Lankan frogmouth or Ceylon frogmouth (''Batrachostomus moniliger'') is a small frogmouth found in the Western Ghats of south India and Sri Lanka. Related to the nightjars, it is nocturnal and is found in forest habi ...

Birds of South India Birds of Sri Lanka