Despite being nocturnal, Owlet-nightjars seem to enjoy sitting in the warm sun at the entrance of their sleeping hollows. Yes, this fluffball is a bird!


Owlet-nightjar by RobGeraghty, on Flickr




Owlet-nightjar by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

[ToddK]

Terrific captures Rob. The little bugger is cute, as well as being very well camouflaged. I would probably have walked right past it.

[OrchidJulie]

+1 to that! I'm sure I'd have passed him by, too. Very cute!

[RobG]

Terrific captures Rob. The little bugger is cute, as well as being very well camouflaged. I would probably have walked right past it.

I walked past it too - but someone nearby mentioned that birders had said that there was an unusual bird in the tree. I'm sure I've walked past them lots of times, because I'm not spending enough time looking at tree hollows. Tawny Frogmouths (a true Nightjar) are hard to spot too, looking like a rough branch on a tree. They are very cute when they are fluffed up like this.

+1 to that! I'm sure I'd have passed him by, too. Very cute!

They have this cute habit of wobbling left and right. Here's one I got on video at the Botanic Gardens. Hopefully one day I'll lug a tripod and get a steadier shot. I went back with a tripod to try to get video of this one, but he didn't appear.

Youtu.be

Youtu.be

---------- Post added 11-09-22 at 11:42 PM ----------

This was the bird from today - all I got was a wink!

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Youtu.be

[MikeNArk]

Thanks for posting these images and videos of this interesting bird. It must like like the warm sunshine on cool mornings. It would be very easy to miss seeing this bird. I like the periodic wobbles of the bird in the first video.

[RobG]

Thanks for posting these images and videos of this interesting bird. It must like like the warm sunshine on cool mornings. It would be very easy to miss seeing this bird. I like the periodic wobbles of the bird in the first video.

Thanks Mike! They may be more common than people think, simply because they're hard to spot and only active at night.

[ForthComing]

I been trying to get an Owl for two years.

[RobG]

I been trying to get an Owl for two years.

I feel your pain! I have been hoping to get a photo of a Barn Owl since I saw one in about 1986. Luckily there was a mouse plague (if you can call that luck) and one wandered into the reserve where I was walking for exercise. It was a beautiful bird, but was being harassed by all the other birds in the area. If you have a local birding group, it might be worth finding out if they have a Facebook group or a mailing list. The only reason I got to see a Powerful Owl (a huge species almost the size of an eagle which feeds on possums) was because I was on the local birding group mailing list and someone else found one.

Technically, Nightjars aren't Owls, nor are they Nightjars! They are in a family all of their own. Keep looking for hollows in trees and you might find one!

Here's the Powerful Owl.


Powerful Owl by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

Here's a Tawny Frogmouth, which is a Nightjar. The key difference in behaviour between owls and Nightjars (or Owlet-Nightjars) is that owls catch prey with their feet, while Nightjars catch prey with their beaks.


Tawny Frogmouth by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

And here's the Barn Owl, looking very tired and harassed.


Eastern Barn Owl by RobGeraghty, on Flickr

I hope you manage to find that owl you're looking for! Thanks for posting!

[angkymac]

Fantastic pictures of those interesting birds!
I recently got some shots of a little owl sitting in a hollow tree. First I've been able to get.
I haven't posted it since I has such camouflage that it seems like a boring image--very low contrast.
Your bird shots are eye-catching.
Angky.

[RobG]

Fantastic pictures of those interesting birds!
I recently got some shots of a little owl sitting in a hollow tree. First I've been able to get.
I haven't posted it since I has such camouflage that it seems like a boring image--very low contrast.
Your bird shots are eye-catching.

Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate it! Can you tweak the levels of the photo to make the owl more visible? Actually, playing "spot the animal" can be fun when things are camouflaged too.