Sri Lanka Frogmouth

The Sri Lanka frogmouth is a small, nocturnal relative of the nightjars, about 23cm long, with the wide, hooked bill, slit-like nostrils and forward-facing eyes of all frogmouths, and short stiff bristles around the eyes. Its plumage resembles dead leaves: the male is grey-brown with fine barring and a spotted crown, and the female more rufous or chestnut. The wing coverts end in black spots tipped white. Western Ghats birds, subspecies roonwali, differ slightly from Sri Lankan ones in the colour of the wing mirror and spots (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in tropical forest with dense undergrowth, sometimes in plantations. By day it sits on a favourite roost, often for months; when alarmed it slowly points its bill upward and passes for a broken branch, and may gape in threat. It feeds on insects taken in flight or gleaned from branches and the ground. It is vocal at dusk and dawn, the female giving a loud, screechy call. SoIB 2023 lists it as a resident forest bird of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, but gives no trend or priority for it (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).