Species guide
Australian Brushturkey: how to recognise it
A bird of Oceania. Learn the marks that make it easy to identify, then practise with real photographs in Lore.
Practise with real photosAll species guides
Photo © JJ Harrison · CC BY · iNaturalist · all photo credits
- Scientific name
- Alectura lathami
- Family
- Megapodes
- Size
- About 60–75 cm
- Habitat
- Rainforest, scrub and suburban gardens
- Found in
- Oceania
The key marks
A black turkey-like bird with a bare red head, a yellow neck wattle and a fan-shaped tail held sideways.
Voice
Mostly silent; low grunts.
Good to know
Males build a huge mound of leaf litter whose heat incubates the eggs, and the chicks hatch fully independent.
Where and when
You can expect to find it in rainforest, scrub and suburban gardens. It is especially common in Australia. Distribution changes with the seasons and from year to year, so check a recent local observation source before you go looking.