The Newest, Cutest Baby Animals from the World's Zoos & Aquariums

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Meet Hoover and Sawyer, the two tawny frogmouth chicks hatched just last month at SeaWorld, Orlando. Often confused with owls, the tawny frogmouth is weaker and, frankly, lazier than most owls and is native to Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea. Well camouflaged, tawny frogmouths are so named because of their ridiculously wide beaks, already readily apparent on tiny Hoover and Sawyer.

Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 3

Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 5
Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 6 

Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 4

Photo credits:  Jason Collier, SeaWorld Orlando 
More pics below if you click Continue reading.

ORLANDO, FL (FEB 18, 2009) — BIRDS OF A FEATHER GROW UP TOGETHER — Already showing the large, frog-like mouths that give the species its name, Hoover (L) and Sawyer (R) are tawny frogmouth chicks that were hatched at SeaWorld Orlando last month.  Until recently, the population of tawny frogmouths in North American zoos was facing extinction and breeding programs were largely unsuccessful.  SeaWorld worked with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to develop a breeding program to help sustain the species' growth. And, the program is showing early success — in less than a year, six chicks have been hatched and all are now thriving at the park.  Frogmouths are native to the forested savannas and open woodlands of Australia. When fully grown, the insect-eating birds will be between 9 and 21 inches tall.  To learn more about tawny frogmouths and other animals, explore SeaWorld.org.

Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 1 
Tawny Frogmouth Chicks at SeaWorld Orlando 2 

25 responses to “Tawny Frogmouth Chicks”

  1. emilee Avatar
    emilee

    these little buggers are super cute!

  2. Andrew B Avatar

    Even for a jaded ZooBornologist like myself, these guys can’t help but make me laugh.

  3. ym Avatar
    ym

    I wonder how much older Hoover is than Sawyer, he looks so much bigger.

  4. hayden Avatar

    OH NO. Those are too cute to even be real.

  5. leslie Avatar

    What great names! And they look so fluffy!!!!!

  6. elyse Avatar
    elyse

    They’re adorable! Glad I found your Twitter and signed up 🙂

  7. holy cuteness Avatar

    Wow, awesome pictures and extremely cute furry chicks…

  8. Jennifer Avatar
    Jennifer

    LOL! I love the pic of the guy standing on one leg. 😉

  9. Robyn Avatar
    Robyn

    This is my favorite post so far! they are unbelievably cute!!

  10. Kit Avatar
    Kit

    OMG, those are the cutest little things ever! I love all their posing. Frogmouths seem to be camera hogs!

  11. tomer golan Avatar
    tomer golan

    mi ze ????????????????????????????

  12. Nicky Avatar
    Nicky

    I’m not much on birds, but I’d love to snuggle those adorable creatures. Bet they wouldn’t be such big fans though, lol!

  13. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    I accidentally walked up on an adult one of these in The Gorge park in Launceston, Tasmania once. I thought it was a piece of wood on the handrail, because it was dark…scared me to pieces!! He just sat there and looked at me. Such a cute creature ^_^

  14. Valerie Avatar
    Valerie

    I want to be reincarnated as the second picture of these precious fluff balls!

  15. momo Avatar
    momo

    Ha!One fell over.Silly little birds.Too cute!

  16. unknowntheartist Avatar

    Tawny frogmouths are very cute! I’d take them over a regular owl anyday, just ‘cos they are different and very photogenic by the looks of it 😀
    BTW, Tasmania is not a singular country, it is a state of Australia

  17. SPURWING PLOVER Avatar
    SPURWING PLOVER

    Two adorible little birdies and capible of hiding in plain sieght

  18. Birdzilla Avatar
    Birdzilla

    And their close reletives of nightjars,whipporwills, and nighthawks

  19. Mikey Avatar
    Mikey

    I used to work at Sea World, and one day, one of the girls from the aviary walked by escorting two of the adult Tawny Frogmouths in a small basket. I literally thought it was fake. They are amazing creatures.

  20. Fran Avatar
    Fran

    I know! I’m still laughing…

  21. LeeGH Avatar
    LeeGH

    I’ve lived in many places where they’ve been night visitors even in urban environments. They will often sit on the hills hoist (washing line) in your backyard watching the lawn for any tasty morsels that come along. At our old house in Toowoomba 2 took up residence in a big old peppertree in our yard right near the middle of town. Lovely birds, they used to let me get quite close after a while to have a look at them. These chicks are adorable, not a side of them you usually see.

  22. Eva Avatar
    Eva

    Too cute to even look at, they are super fluffy and adorable!

  23. Spurwing Plover Avatar
    Spurwing Plover

    They kind of look like owls even though their related to the whipoorwills,night jars and nighthawks

  24. lnsdesig@comcast.net Avatar
    lnsdesig@comcast.net

    may I paint one of these photos for the Portland Audubon wild art project exhibit in Nov? It is a donation and fund raiser.

  25. Andrew Avatar

    Hi Insdesig,
    We don’t own the rights to these photos. We only have the right to run them on our site and in our books. That being said, we can’t imagine anyone would mind!
    Best
    Andrew

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