science

Frogmouth

Frogmouth is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Frogmouth rather than just read about it. In short: The frogmouths (Podargidae) are a group of nocturnal birds related to owlet-nightjars, swifts, and hummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

Key takeaways

Frogmouth belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Frogmouth to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Frogmouth from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The frogmouths (Podargidae) are a group of nocturnal birds related to owlet-nightjars, swifts, and hummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

Biology They are named for their large flattened hooked bill and huge frog-like gape, which they use to capture insects. The three Podargus species are large frogmouths restricted to Australia and New 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. The ten Batrachostomus frogmouths are found in tropical Asia. They have smaller, more rounded bills and are predominantly insectivorous. Both Podargus and Batrachostomus have bristles around the base of the bill, and Batrachostomus has other, longer bristles which may exist to protect the eyes from insect prey. In April 2007, a new species of frogmouth was described from the Solomon Islands and placed in a newly established genus, Rigidipenna. Their flight is weak. They rest horizontally on branches during the day, camouflaged by their cryptic plumage. Through convergent evolution as night hunters, they resemble owls, with large front-facing eyes. 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.

Taxonomy 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. Although frogmouths were formerly included in the order Caprimulgiformes, a 2019 study estimated the divergence between Podargus and Batrachostomus 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 name Podargiformes proposed in 1918 by Gregory Mathews was reinstated for the clade.

Species

Genus Podargus Tawny frogmouth, Podargus strigoides Marbled frogmouth, Podargus ocellatus Papuan frogmouth, Podargus papuensis Genus Batrachostomus Large frogmouth, Batrachostomus auritus Dulit frogmouth, Batrachostomus harterti Philippine frogmouth, Batrachostomus septimus Gould's frogmouth, Batrachostomus stellatus Sri Lanka frogmouth, Batrachostomus moniliger Hodgson's frogmouth, Batrachostomus hodgsoni Sumatran frogmouth, Batrachostomus poliolophus Javan frogmouth, Batrachostomus javensis Blyth's frogmouth, Batrachostomus affinis Sunda frogmouth, Batrachostomus cornutus Palawan frogmouth, Batrachostomus chaseni Bornean frogmouth, Batrachostomus mixtus Genus Rigidipenna Solomons frogmouth, Rigidipenna inexpectata

In culture In a journal article published in April 2021, researchers Katja Thömmes and Gregor Hayn-Leichsenring from the Experimental Aesthetics group at the University Hospital Jena, Germany, found the frogmouth to be the most "instagrammable" type of bird. Using an algorithm to analyze the aesthetic appeal of more than 27,000 bird photographs on Instagram, 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, including The New York Times and The Guardian.

Summary of extant species

References

External links

Frogmouth videos on the Internet Bird Collection Video: Finding the Sri-Lanka Frogmouth, Southern India Scientists discover new genus of frogmouth bird in Solomon Islands

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Frogmouth

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Frogmouth claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Frogmouth before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Frogmouth ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Frogmouth

In research: Frogmouth appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Frogmouth in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Frogmouth is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Nocturnal animals, Podargidae, Podargiformes, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Frogmouth outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Frogmouth in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Frogmouth means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Frogmouth out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Frogmouth in simple terms?

The frogmouths (Podargidae) are a group of nocturnal birds related to owlet-nightjars, swifts, and hummingbirds. Species in the group are distributed in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

Why does Frogmouth matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Frogmouth?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Frogmouth.