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Brush-Turkey in Lamington National Park - this is a mature male. Note the long bright yellow wattle.
Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.
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This is a Turkey chick. The adult scrub turkey builds a large mound of leaves and mulch and lays her eggs inside. The heat from the mound keeps the eggs warm. When the chicks hatch they are on their own.
Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.
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Brush-Turkey male, Lamington National Park.
Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.
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Brush-Turkey male, Lamington National Park.
Image by ozwildlife - Some rights reserved.
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BIRD FACTS |
Description
The Australian Brush-turkey is a large black ground bird from the rainforest and dense woodland of eastern Australia. It has a bare red head and yellow wattles. The male has larger wattles during the breeding season. The tail is fan shaped in a vertical plane. They rarely fly, preferring to run when alarmed, although they can fly in a clumsy fashion when they need to. they roost in trees at night
Other Names
Scrub Turkey
Size
60 - 70cm. A bit larger than a domestic hen.
Habitat
rainforest and dense woodland. It is also found in suburban gardens near forest, where it can become a nuisance by scaping garden mulch into mounds.
Food
insects, grubs, fruit, seeds
Breeding
It builds a large mound of mulch and leaves up to 4m wide and over 1m tall. 12-15 eggs laid in mound. The young dig themselves out after hatching. They prefer to use the same mound site every year
Range
mainly east of the dividing range, from north Queensland to NSW
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Galliformes | | Family: | Megapodiidae | | Genus: | Alectura | | Species: | lathami | | Common Name: | Australian Brush-turkey |
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