The Palawan frogmouth (''Batrachostomus chaseni'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Podargidae. It is found on

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the

Javan Javan () was the fourth son of Noah's son Japheth according to the "Generations of Noah" (Book of Genesis, chapter 10) in the Hebrew Bible. Josephus states the traditional belief that this individual was the ancestor of the Greeks. Also servi ...

and

Blyth's frogmouth The Blyth’s frogmouth (''Batrachostomus affinis'') is a species of bird in the family Podargidae. They are brownish or rufescent brown with a slightly round bill and tail, and have tufts of bristles in front of the eyes and at the base of the ...

Description and taxonomy

Ebird describes it as "A medium-sized night bird of lowland forest on Palawan, where it is the only frogmouth. Male is gray-brown and lightly speckled above with barred flight feathers and tail. Female is more rufous-brown with less patterning. Both sexes have a broken white line above the shoulder and are heavily scalloped with white on the belly, more sparsely on the chest. Note the prominent whiskers around the face. More often heard than seen. Voice is a raspy, whistled “reh-weuu!” with the second note falling." it was formerly conspecific with the

and

under the Horsfield's frogmouth species complex. It is most similar to Blyth's but is differentiated by the lack of black spotting on its crown and having white spots instead. However, there seems to be a large amount of variance and morphs between each individual and thus further study is required to properly validate its status as a species.

Ecology and behavior

Diet is presumed to be insects but there is no published data on the specifics of its diet. Breeding season is presumed to be from June to August. Nest is a small pad of vegetation mixed with down feathers. Clutch size is believed to be 1 to 2 white eggs.

Habitat and conservation status

Its habitat is primary lowland forest and second growth with dense tangles and bamboo. Elevational range is poorly known. As the

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

, recognize the Palawan frogmouth as a subspecies of the

Javan frogmouth The Javan frogmouth (''Batrachostomus javensis''), sometimes known as Horsfield's frogmouth, is a species of bird in the family Podargidae. It is sometimes considered conspecific with the Blyth's and Palawan frogmouths. Found in Southeast Asia, ...

, the IUCN has yet to assess it. However,

's forests are under threat due to

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

, deforestation and mining and it is reasonable to believe that this bird's population is declining. The whole of

was designated as a Biosphere Reserve; however, protection and enforcement of laws has been difficult and these threats still continue. It occurs in just one protected area in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3393000 Batrachostomus Birds described in 1937 Endemic fauna of the Philippines Fauna of Palawan Endemic birds of the Philippines