The Brush Turkey is one of Australia's three "mound builders". The others being, the locally found Orange-footed Scrub fowl and the Mallee Fowl in the southern part of the continent.
They are solitary in nature and aggressive to each other and to other lesser species. They are bullies!!
Unlike the Orange-footed Scrub fowl, Brush Turkeys do not form permanent pair bonds. A successful male, with a good nest location, mates with many different females during the breeding season.
By scratching up earth and decaying leaf matter with their powerful legs the male Brush Turkey builds huge incubation mounds which can be four metres in diameter and well over one metre high. They are re-used every year with the dominant bird maintaining the best locality. After copulating with the female he allows her to deposit her eggs in the clutch that he exposes. He then aggressively drives her away and very carefully recovers the eggs with humus. Quite often the eggs that he tends in his mound have been fertilised by another male. He can only hope I guess that some other male is reciprocating with his eggs. Incubation temperature is about 33 degrees Celsius.
No parental care is provided to the young who dig themselves from the mound and can fly within the hour of hatching.
A rainforest bird, the Green Catbird is so named because of its wailing cat like call. Although they are members of the Bower bird family the Catbirds form permanent pair bonds and established pairs maintain their territory year round.
A fruit eater for most of the year, the Catbird becomes a predator during the breeding season and raids the nest of other small bird species taking their young as well as frogs, lizards etc. The bird pictured is the species found in the Wet Tropical rainforest of North East Queensland and is known locally as the Spotted Catbird.
This iridescent green winged dove is a very pleasant, common, ground-feeding resident in Australian rainforest and open forest. Its size is 23-28 Centimetres and makes a lat platform nest of twigs on leafy branch well hidden with 2 white eggs.
Male and female Orange-footed Scrubfowl form permanent pair bonds. Both birds work at building very large incubation mounds of decaying vegetable matter. Heat generated by the decaying humus provides the heat source for the incubation of their eggs. No parental care is provided for the newly hatched chicks who are capable of flight shortly after digging themselves out of the incubation mound. Disturbance of the mounds by feral pigs in search of eggs is cause for great concern as they may leave the nest or destroy the eggs. They are approximately 40 Centimetres in size and their nests are huge mounds of leaves and soil up to 12 metres across and 3.5 metres high.
With a length of 75-85 cm and a massive wingspan of 180-220cm they are a majestic spectacular bird. They have their head, neck and underside in a striking white with amid-grey back. These wonderful birds are often seen perched in the top of a dead tree, or soaring above Mission Beach looking for a fish meal.
This large bird can be seen in grasslands adjacent to swamps and pasture in Mission Beach. They are 105-134cm tall of a pale grey, with bright red band around the back of their head. They have a horn coloured bill and dark grey legs.
These delightful small birds are often seen running across the roads in the Mission Beach area. They are 54-59cm long and their upper side is mottled black, brown and grey. Their underside is white with black streaks and ochre wash. Their cute face is white and they also have a splash of white on their wings. They can be often heard calling at night.
These pigeons are very pretty and with the white body and then the black tail and flight feathers they are an impressive sight in the trees at Cassawong Cottages. They are only seen between the months of around November and February and are approximately 38-44cm long
These huge white birds are often seen in the trees at the rear of the cottages. Their sounds are quite loud when they are feeding in groups and rip and tear at the leaves. They are easily identified by their pale yellopw crest and bark grey bill.
These are the noisy birds of the rainforest and travel in large groups. You can hear their cries every afternoon as they pass overhead on their way to their night perches. They are brightly coloured with a blue head,back, wings and tail are green and breast red and orange. Blue belly and red bill makes them a favourite to photograph.
These long tailed birds are often seen on the road between Cassawong Cottages and Mission Beach Resort.
They are around 50-80 cm long with brown black wings and a very long tail with much paler streaks and bars. A very clumsy flier, it seems to be more comfortable running low to the ground.
These delightful and busy little birds 10-12 cm tall make nests on anything that we hang around the cottages. We have a set of bells outside each cottage and they often make a nest on them. The little birds have a golden belly with olive green upper side and a bright yellow eyebrow. The male has a showy breast of iridescent dark blue, whilst the female is all golden.
Description:
The Cockatiel is an unusual member of the cockatoo family. It is small in size (30 to 33 cm), and has a slender body and long pointed tail, which is more characteristic of a parrot. Its plumage is mostly grey, paler below, with a white wing patch, orange cheeks and a distinctive pointed crest. The male can be identified by its bright yellow forehead, face and crest. Young Cockatiels resemble the adult female, although the young males normally have a brighter yellow face.
The Cockatiel is widespread throughout mainland Australia, but is uncommon in Tasmania, with only a few sightings being reported to date. It is seen in pairs or small flocks, in most types of open country, usually near water. It is common throughout its range, especially in the north and the more arid inland areas. Throughout its range, the Cockatiel is strongly nomadic, moving around in response to the availability of food and water.
The Cockatiel is not found in any other country, but is a popular cage bird, second only to the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus . It does not have the screeching voice of many other parrots and may learn to 'speak'.
Although mostly silent, the Cockatiel gives a long and distinctive "queel-queel" in flight.
Here are some cute shots of our little cockatiel that is seen by all guests at Cassawong Cottages.
Brush turkey in the bush
These scrub fowls are seen daily in the rainforest grounds of Cassawong Cottages
Brightly coloured catbird calls are often heard at Cassawong Cottages
These pretty doves are often seen in the trees above the cottages at Cassawong Cottages
