Australian Brushturkey

Identification

The Australian brushturkey is a large, distinctive bird measuring 60–75 cm in length with a wingspan of about 85 cm, making it the largest living member of the megapode family. It is unmistakable in appearance, featuring predominantly black plumage contrasted by a bare red head and a prominent, fan-like tail flattened sideways. The nominate subspecies displays a yellow wattle, while the smaller northern subspecies (A. l. purpureicollis) from Cape York Peninsula has a purple wattle instead.

During breeding season, males undergo striking changes: their wattles enlarge dramatically and swing from side to side as they move, while their heads and wattles become much brighter. The underside of the body is sprinkled with white feathers, more pronounced in older individuals. Despite its name, the brushturkey is not closely related to the American turkey, but rather to the wattled brushturkey, Waigeo brushturkey, and malleefowl. The bird is a clumsy flyer, unable to sustain long flights and preferring to take to the air only when threatened or to roost in trees.

Range & Habitat

The Australian brushturkey ranges along the eastern coast of Australia, extending from the tip of Cape York in the north to approximately Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales. It has also been introduced to Kangaroo Island in South Australia. The species inhabits rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests, as well as drier scrubs and open areas across both mountainous and lowland regions.

In the northern reaches of its range, the brushturkey is most commonly found at higher altitudes, moving to lowland areas during winter. In the south, it is equally at home in mountain and lowland environments. Remarkably, brushturkeys have adapted well to human-modified landscapes and are now common in urban environments, frequently seen in suburban backyards in major cities such as Brisbane and Sydney.

Behaviour & Diet

The Australian brushturkey is famous for its extraordinary mound-building reproductive strategy. Males construct large nests from leaves, compostable material, and earth, measuring 1 to 1.5 metres high and up to 4 metres across. A dominant male tends the mound and receives successive local females for mating and egg-laying. The male tirelessly collects nesting material from the surrounding area while fiercely defending his mound against rival males, a demanding effort that eventually leads to his replacement by a stronger competitor.

Eggs are incubated by the heat generated from the composting mound, with males carefully regulating temperature between 33–35 °C by adding or removing material. Clutches average 16–24 large white eggs, laid between September and March, though a single mound may contain up to 50 eggs from multiple females. Young brushturkeys are fully fledged at hatching and can fly within hours once their feathers dry. Chicks are entirely independent from birth, resulting in high mortality rates. In urban settings, brushturkeys show little fear of humans and readily raid compost bins and picnic areas for food.

Best Time & Places to See It

Brushturkeys are fairly common throughout their range and can be reliably encountered in suitable habitats from Far North Queensland to New South Wales. They are particularly abundant and easily observed in suburban gardens and parks in Brisbane and Sydney, where their habituation to humans makes them accessible to nature enthusiasts and photographers.

The breeding season from September to March offers excellent opportunities to observe male behaviour as they actively tend their mounds and defend territories. National parks within the species' range, as well as urban green spaces, provide good viewing opportunities, though birds in more urbanised areas display noticeably reduced wariness compared to those in national parks.

Photography Tips

The brushturkey's striking colouration—black plumage contrasting with its bare red head and prominent tail—makes it highly photogenic. Photograph males during breeding season when their wattles are enlarged and most brightly coloured, and when their behavioural activity around the mound is highest. The characteristic sideways swing of the wattle as males run provides dynamic action shots.

Urban populations are considerably less wary than their park-dwelling counterparts, making suburban gardens and backyards excellent locations for close approach and detailed portraiture. Capture the bird's characteristic posture with its distinctive fan-like tail, and if possible, document mound-building behaviour and temperature-checking activities where males insert their beaks into the nest material. Early morning and late afternoon light will best highlight the red head and bring out the subtle white underside plumage.