red, nearly featherless head; yellow ring on throat (Australia; 2006-06-20)
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Australian Brushturkey
Alectura lathami
Native Range:
Australian Region
Notes:
this bold, oft-tame, and conspicuous Australian speciesbuilds large mounds of vegetation into which females lay eggs; each nest is communal and tended typically by one dominant male plus one or a few younger males; several females may contribute eggs to the nest, which is up to four meters across and 1-2 meters high; males alone add or remove vegetable material to the nest to help regulate the interior temperature where the eggs incubate (the male routinely tests the temperature by sticking his bill into the nest); the mean clutch size in the nest is about 16-24 eggs; newly hatched young dig themslves out; a nest may be used and added onto for multiple years; this species is mostly terrestrial but the birds do fly clumsily when scared; roosts in trees at night; little sexual dimorphism.
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