Animalia Life

Podargus papuensis
SUBFAMILY
Podarginae
TAXONOMY
Podargus papuensis Quoy and Gaimard, 1830, Arfak Peninsula, New Guinea. Monotypic.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Giant or great Papuan frogmouth; French: Podarge papou; German: Papuaschwalm; Spanish: Podargo Papъ.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
18–24 in (45–60 cm); 9–20 oz (256–570 g). Largest member of its genus. Male’s upperparts elaborately patterned in light and dark, but overall appear gray-brown; underparts are lighter brown-gray with white spots and bars and blackish streaking. Females are typically browner or more rufous than males.
DISTRIBUTION
Queensland; New Guinea and satellite islands.
HABITAT
Forest, woodland, wooded savanna.
BEHAVIOR
Roosts by day in tree cover, often a pair together; active at night in territory.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Swoops from perch to catch prey mainly on ground, taking large insects and small vertebrates such as frogs and rodents.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Nests on a platform in tree, containing clutch of one or rarely two eggs. Daytime incubation by male; incubation and fledging periods unknown.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Known to tribespeople in New Guinea, who have given descriptions of a “gaping” posture, possibly used for fly catching.

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