Dulit Frogmouth
Encyclopedia
The Dulit Frogmouth is a little-known species of bird
in the Podargidae, or frogmouth
, family
, with a patchily recorded distribution in the mountain forests of northern and central Borneo
. The species is monotypic.
in 1891 on Mount Dulit
in northern Sarawak
, at an altitude of about 600 m, with the bird being taken “in a small jungle hut into which it had flown in the dusk evidently attracted by the light”. The common name reflects the type locality, while the specific epithet honours German ornithologist Ernst Hartert
.
have large white spots. The underparts are paler brown with buff bars and spots. The sexes are similar.
The only other frogmouth of comparable size in Borneo is the Large Frogmouth
(B. auritus), with which the Dulit Frogmouth forms a superspecies
. The Large Frogmouth is slightly larger (with a length of 39 – 42 cm) and paler; the crown is spotted and vermiculated rather than barred, the wing-coverts more heavily spotted, and the underparts plainer. No other frogmouth found in Borneo is more than 30 cm in length.
recorded a call in the Kelabit Highlands, which he attributed to this species, as “ tuab tuab ”. The Kelabit
name for the frogmouth is Tu’ub or Suit tu’ub.
are known, taken from Mount Dulit, the Usun Apau Plateau and the Kelabit Highlands
in Sarawak
, and from Mount Liang Kubung in West Kalimantan
. It has also been seen near Poring in the Kinabalu National Park
in Sabah
.
Its preferred habitat
is lower montane
forest
of both primary and secondary growth
, at an altitude of 300 – 1500 m above sea level. At Mount Dulit it replaces the more widespread Large Frogmouth altitudinally, the latter being found at lower levels.
.
and agricultural
development. Its conservation status is considered by BirdLife International
to be Near Threatened
. Proposed conservation measures include the investigation of the species’ ecology and the protection of suitable habitat.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
in the Podargidae, or frogmouth
Frogmouth
The frogmouths are a group of nocturnal birds related to the nightjars. They are found from India across southern Asia to Australia.They are named for their large flattened hooked bills and huge frog-like gape, which they use to capture insects. Their flight is weak.They rest horizontally on...
, family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, with a patchily recorded distribution in the mountain forests of northern and central Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. The species is monotypic.
History and etymology
The type specimen was collected by Charles HoseCharles Hose
Charles Hose was a British colonial administrator, zoologist and ethnologist.He was born in Hertfordshire, England, and was educated at Felsted in Essex. Admitted to Clare College, Cambridge in 1882, he almost immediately migrated to Jesus College, and later left Cambridge without taking a degree...
in 1891 on Mount Dulit
Mount Dulit
Mount Dulit is a mountain in Borneo. It peaks at 1311 m above sea level and stands at the head of the Baram River in northern Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a western outlier of the Bornean cordillera and is largely covered with tropical rainforest...
in northern Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, at an altitude of about 600 m, with the bird being taken “in a small jungle hut into which it had flown in the dusk evidently attracted by the light”. The common name reflects the type locality, while the specific epithet honours German ornithologist Ernst Hartert
Ernst Hartert
Ernst Johann Otto Hartert was a German ornithologist. Hartert was born in Hamburg. He was employed by Lionel Walter Rothschild as ornithological curator of his private museum at Tring from 1892 to 1929....
.
Description
It is a large, dark, chestnut-brown frogmouth, ranging in length from 32 to 37 cm. The wing length is 220 – 250 mm. It has buffish barring on the crown and a narrow buffish collar on the hindneck. The wing-covertsCovert (feather)
A covert feather on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts, which as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.- Wing-coverts :...
have large white spots. The underparts are paler brown with buff bars and spots. The sexes are similar.
The only other frogmouth of comparable size in Borneo is the Large Frogmouth
Large Frogmouth
The Large Frogmouth is a species of bird in the Podargidae family.It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand....
(B. auritus), with which the Dulit Frogmouth forms a superspecies
Superspecies
A superspecies is a group of at least two more or less distinctive species with approximately parapatric distributions. Not all species complexes, whether cryptices or ring species are superspecies, and vice versa, but many are...
. The Large Frogmouth is slightly larger (with a length of 39 – 42 cm) and paler; the crown is spotted and vermiculated rather than barred, the wing-coverts more heavily spotted, and the underparts plainer. No other frogmouth found in Borneo is more than 30 cm in length.
Voice
The call is not known for certain, though Tom HarrissonTom Harrisson
Major Tom Harnett Harrisson DSO OBE was a British polymath. In the course of his life he was an ornithologist, explorer, journalist, broadcaster, soldier, guerrilla, ethnologist, museum curator, archaeologist, documentarian, film-maker, conservationist, and writer...
recorded a call in the Kelabit Highlands, which he attributed to this species, as “ tuab tuab ”. The Kelabit
Kelabit language
Kelabit is one of the remotest languages of Borneo, on the Sarawak–Kalimantan border, and spoken by one of the smallest ethnicities in Borneo, the Kelabit people....
name for the frogmouth is Tu’ub or Suit tu’ub.
Distribution and habitat
The frogmouth is endemic to Borneo. Only eight museum specimensBird collections
Bird collections are curated repositories of scientific specimens consisting of birds and their parts. They are a research resource for ornithology, the science of birds, and for other scientific disciplines in which information about birds is useful...
are known, taken from Mount Dulit, the Usun Apau Plateau and the Kelabit Highlands
Kelabit Highlands
The Kelabit Highlands are a mountain range located in the northernmost part of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. The highest mountains in this range are Mount Murud at 2,423 m , Bukit Batu Buli at 2,082 m , and Bukit Batu Lawi at 2,046 m .In the Kelabit Highlands, there are 14...
in Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
, and from Mount Liang Kubung in West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan
West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak is located right on the Equator....
. It has also been seen near Poring in the Kinabalu National Park
Kinabalu National Park
Kinabalu National Park or Taman Negara Kinabalu in Malay, established as one of the first national parks of Malaysia in 1964, is Malaysia's first World Heritage Site designated by UNESCO in December 2000 for its "outstanding universal values" and the role as one of the most important biological...
in Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
.
Its preferred habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
is lower montane
Montane
In biogeography, montane is the highland area located below the subalpine zone. Montane regions generally have cooler temperatures and often have higher rainfall than the adjacent lowland regions, and are frequently home to distinct communities of plants and animals.The term "montane" means "of the...
forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
of both primary and secondary growth
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
, at an altitude of 300 – 1500 m above sea level. At Mount Dulit it replaces the more widespread Large Frogmouth altitudinally, the latter being found at lower levels.
Behaviour
Very little is known of the frogmouth’s breeding or feeding habits. A female specimen taken on 19 November was ready to lay eggs. The stomach of a specimen taken in the Kelabit Highlands was full of locusts or grasshoppersAcrididae
The Acrididae are the predominant family of grasshoppers, comprising some 10,000 of the 11,000 species of the entire suborder Caelifera. The Acrididae are best known because all locusts are of the Acrididae. The subfamily Oedipodinae is sometimes classified as a distinct family Oedipodidae in the...
.
Status and conservation
The range of the frogmouth is estimated at 127,000 km2 and decreasing. It is restricted to the Bornean Mountains Endemic Bird Area and is threatened by habitat loss through loggingLogging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
and agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
development. Its conservation status is considered by BirdLife International
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...
to be Near Threatened
Near Threatened
Near Threatened is a conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa that may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status...
. Proposed conservation measures include the investigation of the species’ ecology and the protection of suitable habitat.