Tawny Frogmouth

I was excited when I happened to notice this strange bird behind glass and in a rather dark enclosure in The Creatures of the Night building at the Zoo. At first, I thought it was a new (for me) kind of owl, but it is a Tawny Frogmouth! I had seen several people post photos of this very strange looking bird on Flickr and always thought it would be an interesting species to see.

"Found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often thought to be an owl.

Tawny Frogmouths hunt at night and spend the day roosting on a dead log or tree branch close to the tree trunk. Their camouflage is excellent — staying very still and upright, they look just like part of the branch.

Tawny Frogmouth pairs stay together until one of the pair dies." From Wikipedia.