Strange new breed

[bills]

A friend has just bought two of the strangest chickens I have ever seen. They have feathered beaks, and very large, almost reptilian eyes. Here's a picture of them.

What the heck kind are they??

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

WOW I don't even know what to say about those.

 

[coloradochick]

Eww, they give me the shivers. It's hard to tell what their faces look like. Almost like something out of the movies. I'm sure the pics don't really do them justice though.

Sure their not some type of owl?

 

[lleighmay]

I think they're frogmouths (Podargus strigoides- not sure exactly which species). They're native to Australia. I couldn't find them on Google but Yahoo has several references.

 

[Anne]

Quote:
I can't tell if you're serious or not. My first thought was that it was some sort of gruesome photoshop spree. Please tell me those aren't real?

 

[Anne]

Oh my GAWD they're REAL!

The "Tawny Frogmouth:"
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/28/Australian-Wildlife---Tawny-Frogmouth.html

This picture makes them look not-so-creepy -- you can see why they look like they do -- it's actually great camouflage:

 

[lleighmay]

No, they're real, and not a figment of my late night imagination. I used to work as a naturalist and I vaguely remembered them from some of my past reading. These days I've graduated from raptors to chickens which don't require you to keep 3000 mice in your freezer for birdie dinner purposes (yay!)

 

[peeboo]

 

[Siber_AK49]

Okay I am in shock those chickie chicks look gruesome

They definetely make for some good camouflage though

Quote:
Okay I had to edit my post.. Are those real too?!?

 

[prariechiken]

Awesome frogmouths......that would be so cool to take people out to see your "chickens" and walk them into a pen of these....