Adults: Skin of head and neck bare and red, sparsely covered with black hair-like feathers. Skin at base of neck yellow and flared into yellow wattles. Upper parts, wings and tail, dull black. Breast, brown-black. Belly, brown-black. Undertail, dull black. Eye, brown to white. Bill, black. Feet, toes, dusky-yellow.
Other Names (World)
Australian Brush-turkey, Scrub Turkey, Brush Turkey, Wild Turkey, Barnard's Purple-pouched Brush-turkey, Barnard's Yellow-pouched Brush-turkey, Pouched Talegallus, Wattled Talegallus, Australian Brushturkey
Australian Brushturkey (Alectura lathami) [XC517534]
by James Lambert from Black Mountain Road, Kuranda, Australia (call)
Australian Brushturkey (Alectura lathami) [XC331331]
by Marc Anderson from Dorrigo National Park, Australia (call)
Nest
A terrestrial mound of decomposing leaf litter and soil 4 - 6 m in diameter and 1 - 1.5 meters high.
Eggs (Guide)
Usually 18 - 24; white; long-oval; 92 x 64 mm. Incubation: about 50 days.
Young
Precocial, nidifugous.
Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
lathami Gray, 1831 - Central and southern Queensland, north-eastern New South Wales.
purpureicollis (Le Souef, 1898) - Cape York Peninsula, with purple-white ruff of wattles.
Similar Species
Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) which has a dark feathered head / crest and orange legs.
References
See References.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9