Not an owl…

Sleeps during the day, hunts at night, has beautiful big orange eyes and flies silently on downy wings. It even looks kind of like an owl, but it’s not one.

I have been keeping an eye on four to five families of tawny frogmouths for a few years now, and have found that their grumpy reputation is completely unfounded. They are lively, charismatic birds if you see them at the right time (best just before sunset).

The parents continue to care for the young for an extended period of time, and while their building skills aren’t the greatest, there is a growing number of successful tawny frogmouth families in this area.