Sri Lanka Frogmouth

Birds > Frogmouths

The Sri Lanka Frogmouth (Batrachostomus moniliger) is a master of biological crypsis, an extraordinary nocturnal bird inhabiting the dense evergreen rainforests of the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka. Renowned for its enormous, frog-like gape and intricate mottled plumage...

European Nightjar

Birds > Nightjars

The European Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), historically known in country folklore as the ‘Goatsucker’ due to ancient myths that it stole milk from domestic livestock, is a crepuscular and nocturnal aerial insectivore of the order Caprimulgiformes....

Javan Frogmouth

Birds > Podargidae & Frogmouths

The Javan Frogmouth (Batrachostomus javensis) is one of the most cryptic, acoustically fascinating, and rarely glimpsed nocturnal birds inhabiting the lush tropical forests of Southeast Asia. Native to the Sundaic islands of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, this enigmatic...

New Caledonian Owlet-nightjar

Birds > Aegothelidae & Owlet-nightjars

The New Caledonian Owlet-nightjar (Aegotheles savesi) is an exceptionally rare, near-mythical bird native solely to the remote island of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific. The largest of all living owlet-nightjars, this enigmatic nocturnal creature was long known...

Serpent Island Gecko

Reptiles > Gekkonidae & Slender-toed Geckos

The Serpent Island Gecko (Nactus serpensinsula) is a critically localized, slender-toed gecko endemic to tiny uninhabited volcanic islets lying north of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Driven entirely from the Mauritian mainland following human colonization and the...