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Australian Brush Turkey (young male)
Alectura lathami
-27.5085, 153.018
Field Notes
Description:
Today marks my 5th anniversary on Project Noah. I didn't know what my spotting would be today, and because the weather has been so foul these past couple of days, I've had to trust that Mother Nature would bring something special to my backyard. It just happened to be this lovely brush turkey, and it's a young male. As I headed out into the yard, he flew up into a large tree, and the sound of him getting airborne was the only thing that alerted me to his presence. The brush turkey is native to Australia, and is a megapode species - they build massive ground nests. The male has a large, bright yellow wattle that hangs from its neck, while the female's is smaller and paler. My spotting has a small wattle but it is very bright, and that leads me to think this bird is a young male. It was also great to spot this one in a tree, as it's more common to see them on the ground, usually running up and down a fence line if feeling threatened rather than flying over it. They fly short distances, but can still reach the upper branches of the tallest of gums, and they do roost in trees at night. Here's a previous spotting of a brush turkey building a mound in my neighbour's backyard. Needless to say, my neighbour was mortified as this was freshly-laid mulch - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/32345008 When nesting, they can make a dreadful mess.
Habitat:
Suburban backyard in inner-city Brisbane. Nesting mounds in the surrounding area are usually made from lawn clippings, leaf litter from mango trees, and garden mulch, usually sugar cane or wood chip. All these materials are plentiful and nearby. Their native range extends from Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland south to Wollongong in NSW, having extended its southern distribution in the last few decades. It lives in rainforests near the coast and in drier scrubs further inland. While naturally shy in the bush and spending most of its time alone, in the suburbs the species has become used to people and is regularly seen in groups. I actually had five birds frequenting my yard a few years ago.
Notes:
This is my 610th spotting, and my spotting ID rate is about 94%. There are only 37 spottings that I've been unable to identify. Hopefully the other 573 are accurate. And on average, spread over 5 years, I have posted almost exactly 1 spotting every 3 days. A slow but steady pace.
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