Distribution
Rigidipenna inexpectata © Brian R Field
Although there are nearly a thousand islands that make up the sovereign state of the Solomon Islands, the frogmouth has so far only been found on 4 of them. These are:
- Bougainville
- Isabel
- Choiseul
- San Jorge
(Cleere 1998, Cleere et al 2006, Holyoak 2001).
Recent reports suggest it might also occur on Buka (Hadden 2004).
The Solomon Islands frogmouth is a sedentary species that probably does not stray far from its home range.
Habitat
This secretive species seems to prefer lowland primary forest below 500 metres above sea level, although it has also been recorded in mature secondary forest.
Records to-date reveal that it occurs from coastal regions inland to mountain range foothills, although this may only reflect the extent of current exploration.