A bird that had not been recorded in the Garo Hills for 75 years has been sighted again in Meghalaya’s Balpakram National Park, offering a rare glimpse of one of the region’s most elusive nocturnal birds.
The finding was reported by Daniel Miranda and Tribhuwan Singh of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, in a note published in Indian BIRDS.
The Hodgson’s Frogmouth (Batrachostomus hodgsoni) was spotted by Miranda and Singh while birdwatching and trekking through Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills on January 30, 2025. The bird has been infrequently spotted in Khasi Hills.
The encounter began with a commotion in a dense bamboo thicket. Small birds were screeching and mobbing something hidden in the undergrowth when a medium-sized bird suddenly flew out and perched high above the observers.
It turned out to be a male Hodgson’s Frogmouth.
Its mottled grey, lichen-like plumage, large gape and long facial bristles helped confirm its identity. The bird remained almost completely still as Miranda and Singh photographed it. They observed it for about five minutes before leaving it undisturbed.
The last known record from the Garo Hills was a specimen collected near Tura in West Garo Hills in 1950. The new observations therefore represent the first recorded sighting of the species in the Garo Hills in 75 years.