Frogmouths and Nightjars
In far north Queensland, Australia, there is a rainforest called Wet Tropics. Meandering through this forest is the Daintree River. Two years ago, I was on a boat on the Daintree with several others, looking for birds the area is famous for.
Our boat cruised close to the eastern edge of the wide river. At one point, Mark, our birding guide, motioned to the boatman to slow down and approach the bank. He then pointed to a tree on the bank. The tree had sparse leaves, so the bird should have stood out. I stared intently but could see nothing until I noticed a bump at the Y intersection of two main branches. A strange looking bird had just about blended in perfectly with the bare branches. It had camouflaged so well because its plumage was the exact same colour as the bark.
The bird was a Papuan Frogmouth. It had a bulbous bill, no neck between its head and its body, red eyes and a creamy eyebrow. It was almost two feet long, and the closest I could think of was the Large-tailed Nightjar I had seen in Bangladesh.
Indeed, Frogmouths and Nightjars are birds that belong to an order of birds called Caprimulgiformes. They are distinguished by wide mouths, almost no neck and large eyes. Other birds in this order include Oilbirds, Hawk-nightjars and the fantastic looking Potoos. Most of these birds are nocturnal and live on insects.
Another characteristic of these birds is their superb camouflage.
Take the Large-tailed Nightjar, for example. I was once at a friend's country home in Gazipur, standing next to a grove of trees, camera in hand, looking for birds, when a staff pointed to a tree close to me: "Sir did you see that one?" It was only six feet from me, perched on a horizontal branch, yet I had missed it due to its camouflage. The Large-tailed Nightjar was asleep – it was daytime after all – and our waving and clapping would not wake it up. After taking several photographs, I came very close expecting it to fly, but it ignored me. It was only when I lightly brushed my fingers on the trunk of the tree that it woke up with a start – from the softest vibration - and noisily flew away, its wings almost touching my face. Those were my early days of birding; today I would not disturb a bird like that.
Bangladesh has four other Nightjar species, but they are rare and have eluded me. The Savannah Nightjar can be found in Chapai Nawabganj. The Indian and Grey Nightjars are found in our forests. The Great-eared Nightjar was seen in Mirpur Botanical Garden. The only other bird from Caprimulgiformes order found in Bangladesh is the Hodgson's Frogmouth, an extremely rare find.
The rest of Caprimulgiformes are not seen in Bangladesh and most are hard to find even in their native lands. Among them, the Oilbird deserves a special mention because it is the only bird I know of whose chick, at one point during its growth, weighs more than the adult.
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