| Frogmouths | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tawny frogmouth, at night | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Strisores |
| Clade: | Vanescaves |
| Order: | Podargiformes Matthews, 1918 |
| Family: | Podargidae Gray, 1847 |
| Genera | |
Thefrogmouths (Podargidae) are a group ofnocturnalbirds related toowlet-nightjars,swifts, andhummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in theIndomalayan andAustralasian realms.
They are named for their large flattened hooked bill and huge frog-likegape, which they use to capture insects. The threePodargus species are large frogmouths restricted to Australia andNew Guinea, that have massive flat broad bills. They are known to take larger prey, such as small vertebrates (frogs, mice, etc.), which are sometimes beaten against a stone before swallowing.[1] The tenBatrachostomus frogmouths are found in tropical Asia. They have smaller, more rounded bills and are predominantly insectivorous. BothPodargus andBatrachostomus have bristles around the base of the bill, andBatrachostomus has other, longer bristles which may exist to protect the eyes from insect prey.[1] In April 2007, a new species of frogmouth was described from theSolomon Islands and placed in a newly established genus,Rigidipenna.[2]
Their flight is weak. They rest horizontally on branches during the day, camouflaged by theircryptic plumage. Through convergent evolution as night hunters, they resemble owls, with large front-facing eyes.[citation needed]
Up to three white eggs are laid in the fork of a branch, and are incubated by the female at night and the male in the day.[citation needed]
DNA-DNA hybridisation studies had suggested that the two frogmouth groups may not be as closely related as previously thought, and that the Asian species may be separable as a new family, the Batrachostomidae.[3][4] Although frogmouths were formerly included in theorderCaprimulgiformes, a 2019 study estimated the divergence betweenPodargus andBatrachostomus to between 30 and 50 mya and forming a clade well separated from the nightjars and being a sister group of the swifts, hummingbirds, and owlet-nightjars. The namePodargiformes proposed in 1918 byGregory Mathews was reinstated for the clade.[5]
In a journal article published in April 2021, researchers Katja Thömmes and Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring from the Experimental Aesthetics group at the University HospitalJena, Germany, found the frogmouth to be the most "instagrammable" bird species.[6] Using an algorithm to analyze the aesthetic appeal of more than 27,000 bird photographs onInstagram, they found that photos depicting frogmouths received the highest number of likes relative to the posts' exposure to users. The journal article was picked up by several news outlets, includingThe New York Times andThe Guardian.[7]
