Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides

I went outside last night around 11:45PM and all I heard was this strange noise coming from a low branch in one of my neighbour, Carol's, gum trees. At first I thought it was some sort of owl, as it was around the same time of night that one would normally hear an owl here. But I couldn't figure out what was making the sound. I knew it wasn't a Masked Owl nor a Powerful Owl. I ended up by walking over to the gum tree and was about 10 feet underneath the bird that was calling out. The bird called out for about 20 minutes before it disappeared. It was not anywhere to be seen this morning in any of the trees.

After taking a few videos from a distance I finally got a clear recording of the bird's call which I'm adding below. If you can't hear anything then turn your speakers up to 100%. The bird call can be heard about half way through the recording.


This is not the normal sound one would hear from a Tawny Frogmouth. Whether the bird was a male or female I do not know. I know nothing about Tawny Frogmouths except what they look like and the fact they are nocturnal. Tawny Frogmouths disappeared from Tenterfield a few years back and the fact that this bird flew away 20 minutes later indicates that it appears to be doing the exact same thing as the Masked Owl that travels through Tenterfield about 2-3 times a year. It is nice to see that Tawny Frogmouths are still in the area albeit scattered. What caused them to disappear from the area is a mystery.

This morning I done a bit of research on Tawny Frogmouths, and their voice is similiar to what I recorded on my digital camera. But the sound/call I recorded and heard is not the same as what I found for Tawny Frogmouths on the Internet. I know all birds make different sounds especially during the breeding season, so I'm taking a stab in the dark here and calling this bird a Tawny Frogmouth until proven otherwise.