Megapode (Australian Brush Turkey) @Dr.Rom's Bird Sanctuary
Channel: Holistic University of Brisbane (HUB)
Date: 2020-07-09

The so-called "Australian Scrub Turkey" also called a "Brush Turkey" (or Bush Turkey) is not a true turkey at all, but a member of a unique Gondwanan family of mound-building flightless birds known as Megapodiidae (huge footed). They build large communal nests in the forest where upto 30 eggs are laid to be tended by the males. Dr.Rom's hypothesis is that they are related to the Muttaburrasauri.

Dr.Romesh's Bird Sanctuary is visited in the morning and evening by female Megapodes from nearby Toohey Forest in Moorooka, Brisbane (Australia) The males seldom visit and are much fewer in number.

This species of Megapode (there are 4, including the Mallee Fowl) were named Alectura lathami after himself by the British physician and "naturalist" John Latham in 1824. Latham studied the carcasses of Australian birds that were sent to him in England. Ironically, since he never came to Australia, he has been called the "Father of Australian Ornithology". The Aboriginal people, who hunted these birds for food called them "Gweela".

It was thought in the 1930s that these fascinating birds were headed for extinction, but their numbers have increased and they are now common birds. They are almost flighless and very quiet. The only sound they make is a deep grunt "ugh".