Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Australian Brushturkey

Alectura lathami ssp. lathami

Description:

It is a spectacular large bird with black feathers and a red head. Its total length is about 60–75 cm and a wingspan of about 85 cm. The subspecies A. l. purpureicollis from the northern Cape York Peninsula is smaller than the more widespread nominate subspecies. It has a prominent, fan-like tail flattened sideways, and its plumage is mainly blackish, but with a bare red head, and a yellow (in the nominate subspecies) or purple wattle (in A. l. purpureicollis). The male's wattle becomes much larger during breeding season, often swinging from side to side as they run. The males' heads and wattles also become much brighter during the breeding and nesting season. The underside of the body is sprinkled with white feathers, more pronounced in older birds. The Brush-turkey flies very clumsily with heavy flapping when it is frightened and roosts in trees at night and during the heat of the day.

Habitat:

The Australian Brush-turkey inhabits rainforests and wet schlerophyll forests, but can also be found in drier scrubs. In the northern part of its range, the Australian Brush-turkey is most common at higher altitudes, but individuals move to the lowland areas in winter months. In the south, it is common in both mountain and lowland regions.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

1 Comment

alicelongmartin
alicelongmartin 12 years ago

Nice!

LachlanHart
Spotted by
LachlanHart

2144, New South Wales, Australia

Spotted on Sep 30, 2011
Submitted on Feb 26, 2012

Related Spottings

Australian Brushturkey Bush turkey Bush turkey Brush turkey

Nearby Spottings

Blue Wren Dragonfly Sulphur Crested White Cockatoo Blue Wren
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team