大象传媒

By Dr Marian Weaving, tawny frogmouth expert

When I was first contacted by a researcher from the Planet Earth III team in 2020 asking about my work with tawny frogmouths, I thought it was a scam! I’d been contacted by bogus publishing companies in the past and I thought that this was another variation. So, I ignored the email for a couple of weeks… then received another. I’m very grateful that Niall, the researcher, was persistent as it has led to one of the most interesting and exciting collaborations of my research career.

I grew up in New Zealand with bird watching parents, so it was in my DNA to study birds. I developed a great curiosity of nocturnal birds because of their cryptic and seemingly mysterious behaviours.

I focused in on the tawny frogmouth and was interested as to why it occurred in relatively high numbers in urban areas. Animals often “drop out” with advancing urbanisation, because so many of their important resources become scarce or disappear entirely.
Frogmouths, however, are proving to be adaptable.

They can nest in a large range of both native and non-native trees. Lawns in city parks, that are regularly mown and watered, provide the perfect environment for their ambush hunting technique. During the winter months when insect numbers are low, the abundance of artificial night-time light in the city, provides a powerful attractant to many insects and creates a good hunting ground for frogmouths.

Although frogmouths are doing well in cities, the first challenge for me and the 大象传媒 team was to try to find them! Their plumage has evolved to match the contours and colors of many native tree barks. On top of this their ability to remain absolutely still and impersonate tree branches when you approach is remarkable. After appraising many frogmouth nests, one was selected as suitable for filming.

Whilst frogmouths are abundant in urban areas, they face many challenges. Collisions with vehicles during nighttime foraging, and poisons used for killing rats, mice, and garden pests cause many frogmouth deaths through secondary poisoning. However, a key problem to frogmouths, and many other native species, come from pet cats that are allowed to roam unrestrained day and night.

In Australian cities pet cats are estimated to kill 545 million animals annually, of which 323 million are native animals. Bells and bibs have some effect, along with cat curfews imposed by councils, however, a very effective method gaining popularity is to restrain cats to the owners’ property with netted enclosed areas. This way the cat is free to move about in the garden day and night, and wildlife is given a better chance of also making a home in the city.