Fig. 6.4.

The nests are placed in positions that are well protected from aerial attacks and the brooding tawny (a) is so well camouflaged that a magpie, just landing, is startled (and vocalising) when spotting the tawny frogmouth. The arrow indicates the seated frogmouth with the back turned. Seconds later, the magpie calmed down and did not attack the frogmouth. The position of the nest makes it obvious, however, that the tawny frogmouth is very exposed and vulnerable. The two images show very well that nest building is not a highly developed skill and practice. The ‘nest’ consists of a few untidy sticks and some leaf litter placed into and around a depression in the tree branch. The arrow in (b) shows that most of the nesting material has already been lost and it hangs down from the branch. While the parents continually protect the nestlings, the nestlings, by that age, more often than not have to contend with the bare substrate.