A curious and often misunderstood avian character resides in the heart of mainland Australia and Tasmania’s sprawling tree canopies: the tawny frogmouth.
Known for its surly demeanor, striking resemblance to an owl, and remarkable ability to blend seamlessly into its surroundings, the tawny frogmouth has shed some light on the intricacies of convergent evolution and the diverse strategies employed by nocturnal predators.
Paleo-scientific illustrator and research assistant at the Royal Ontario Museum Danielle Dufault meets a few of these birds, relatives of the nightjar, in this Animalogic video. She explains:
“These birds are mimics… that bright yellow in the beak, combined with whisker-like feathers all around its face, is supposed to emulate what looks like a flower. Now, what likes flowers? Insects.
“But they’re not simply aggressive mimics; they also use mimicry to blend in. They have a lot of great control over the feathers on their body and on their heads, so if they want to try and blend in, they can flatten themselves out and become extremely sleek.”
“You can see he almost looks like a branch that’s extending off of this main branch. So, they’ll try and blend in with the trees that they’re sitting on to become even more camouflaged while waiting for prey to come to them.
“Even their coloring—it’s called cryptic coloring or cryptic camouflage—and that’s something that kind of mimics the environment that they live in, allowing them to be even less perceptible to both predators and prey.”
Despite its grumpy facade, this resilient bird navigates threats of habitat destruction and bushfires with a tenacity befitting its reputation as one of nature’s enduring survivors.
Watch as Dufault illustrates a tawny frogmouth in the corresponding eight-minute Animalogic by Design video:
Then learn about another semi-owl-looking camouflage artist: The spectacular common potoo of Central and South America.
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