July 16th, 2026Hepburn Wildlife Shelter

One of last month’s rescued animals at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter was a tawny frogmouth.

This bird was found trapped in a stormwater pipe, which was positioned vertically into the ground. Jon Rowdon from the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter thinks that the bird probably went down into the pipe looking for food.
Contrary to popular opinion tawny frogmouths are not owls, but nightjars, and their diet mainly consists of insects, whilst owls are carnivores (meat-eaters).
This bird most likely saw something tasty in the pipe and went down to catch it, then found it couldn’t spread its wings wide enough to fly out.
Unlike birds such as chooks, the tawny frogmouths are unable to jump up and down and the pipe was too smooth to climb up, so the bird was trapped down there for some time before the property owner came across it.
The fact that the person could remove the bird from the pipe without getting badly pecked indicates the poor state it was in when found.
At the wildlife shelter the tawny frogmouth was fed specialised food suitable for its species. Gayle Chappell says that it is very important that sick birds are fed the specialised food they need, as it will contain the nutritional requirements that enable them to regain health.
This rescued bird was underweight and dehydrated and it took three weeks for it to recover. Like many birds the tawny frogmouths only see moving prey as food, so it had to be force fed until it began to recognise what it was being fed as food.
When it began to snatch the food, Gayle knew it was on the road to recovery. The bird has now made a full recovery and been released back into its home range.
Unfortunately, our properties have many unintentional animal traps, but if we keep an eye out and cover any holes, pipes or buckets that animals can become trapped in, we may save a few lives.
Dr Marita McGuirk is a field ecologist and environmental scientist, and a volunteer at the Hepburn Wildlife Shelter. Marita writes monthly columns about the shelter and the animals it cares for. If you would like to donate or volunteer, or just to find out more information, head to www.hepburnwildlifeshelter.org | Image: Barb Davies