Australian Brush-turkey

Description:

Large black fowl-like bird with a red head and yellow wattle.

Habitat:

Our backyard - they come past every day! Distribution is the east coast of Australia.

Notes:

Brush turkeys are extremely common where we live but I never saw one until I moved to Sydney in my early 20s. Lots of people consider them pests as they use their rake-like feet to search for food and can seriously mess up a garden (unless you want the raking done, in which case they're amazing!). They also build huge mound nests several metres in diameter.