Wattled Brush Turkey
Other common names: Wattled Scrub turkey
Dark reddish brown rump and upper part of body, legs and feet bluish grey to olive brown. Bright reddish comb and neck wattle of male outside breeding season. Female smaller, with duller colouring on head and smaller wattles.
Subspecies and Distribution: arfakianus (Salvadori, 1877) - mountains of New Guinea. misoliensis Ripley, 1957 - Misool I (off NW New Guinea).
Least Concern
10,000 - 1,000,000 mature individuals - the population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats
Wattled Brush Turkey
Other common names: Wattled Scrub turkey
Dark reddish brown rump and upper part of body, legs and feet bluish grey to olive brown. Bright reddish comb and neck wattle of male outside breeding season. Female smaller, with duller colouring on head and smaller wattles.
Subspecies and Distribution: arfakianus (Salvadori, 1877) - mountains of New Guinea. misoliensis Ripley, 1957 - Misool I (off NW New Guinea).
38-46 cm, male 1600 g, female 1200 g
Taxonomy:
- Talegallus arfakianus Salvadori, 1877, Arfak Mountains. Wattles of bare skin on neck and solitary behaviour at nesting mound may imply species is more closely related to Alectura than to Talegalla, although breeding habits of latter virtually unknown. Two subspecies recognized. (source: Handbook of the Birds of World)
Subspecies and Distribution:
- * arfakianus - mountains of New Guinea. * misoliensis - Misool I (off NW New Guinea).
Montane forest at 750-2800 m.
Sedentary
Fallen fruit and seeds, probably also insect. Ingest large amounts of small stones.
Most of the year, with eggs from all months except Jul, Aug and Nov. Mound builder. Mound usually fairly steep-sided heap of leaves and twigs. 300 cm wide and 150-180 high. Solitary for the rest of year.