What kind of a bird is called a Frogmouth?! How can a bird look like a frog?! These are questions that ran through our minds when we visited the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary in Thattekad, Kerala; one of the few places in South India, where these birds are found. The Sri Lankan Frogmouths are very unusual looking birds. We cannot say that they have a vibrant, colourful plumage, but they are so beautifully camouflaged amongst dry leaves that if not for a trained eye, its very difficult to spot them. Now why are they so named? This was a question that got answered when we actually saw the first pair.  See it for yourself and you will know why these birds are called the Frogmouths.

Still didn’t get it? Well, they are so called because of their large, gaping mouth, and a broad, flattened, hooked bill, which makes them resemble frogs. To tell you some more about this uncommon looking bird - while it is not an endangered species, it is only found in Southwest India and Sri Lanka. So you can imagine how fortunate we were when we got to see not one but three different Frogmouth pairs during our trip to Thattekad! And it’s all because of our guide, Eldhose, a local resident and a very knowledgeable birder that we managed to get such close shots of these highly camouflaged birds.

You can read more of this post at Birding in India - Sri Lankan Frogmouth