Muppet the Tawny Frogmouth
Source: Museum Victoria
The Forest Gallery's Tawny Frogmouth chick - christened Muppet - has taken its first flying lesson.
Like its parents, Muppet now presents staff with a daily challenge, as they discover where it has settled for the day after its nocturnal wanderings. With tawny feathers emerging through its grey down, the task of sighting the youngster is becoming increasingly difficult.
Staff collected a feather for analysis in the Museum’s DNA laboratory – a sure fire way to determine sex – and the results should be in soon.
During the Forest Gallery's annual tall tree prune on Monday 20th, Muppet spent the day perched atop the stick insect enclosure, and seemed oblivious to the activity.
Visitors can get a glimpse of Muppet until around mid-January, when he/she will be leaving to take up a career in education at a Queensland Zoo.