Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Frogmouths aren’t what you’d call your average bird. Their bizarre appearance is unusual enough to catch the attention of the most blasé observer casually leafing through the pages of a glossy nature book while waiting at the doctor’s office. And that’s something of a paradox, because its look is designed to keep it from being seen, to literally cause it to blend into the woodwork.
And this Sri Lanka Frogmouth is no exception. But the photographers want us to look up and take notice, so they isolate the bird, making it impossible to miss. Under normal circumstances, 99 out of 100 of us would walk by where it sits frozen in position to keep it from being detected until evening shadows appear and it can go about its work of catching insects and getting on with life. If inadvertently disturbed, the bird may slowly raise its head till its bill is pointing upward, thus mimicking a broken branch. The deception is complete.
So how was our guide able to lead us down a pathway, cross a small stream, then stop at a clump of bamboo, and confidently point to where the camouflaged bird sat when it was so well hidden? It has something to do with the bird’s behavior and the observer’s attention to detail. While the bird is silent throughout the daylight hours, at dawn and dusk it gives its distinctive call. This has been variously described as “loud, cackly and frog like,” “loud, screechy which drops in volume and ends in a series of hiccups,” and a horrible scratchy scream.”
Besides this, it commonly uses the same roosting spot for months. This means the guide simply has to carefully note where those strange notes were coming from, and then return later on to magically pull this nearly invisible bird out of the bushes for his grateful clients.
I’m not really sure I would want to use this Frogmouth as a role model for modeling ideal Christian behavior, but maybe the guide’s attention to detail might be worth imitating. Careful study and observation can mean that at a later time one may have the opportunity to share with others something they will find to be worthwhile and even valued. Yes, I think their example is something worth copying.