Waigeo Brushturkey

Aepypodius bruijnii

A very little-known, large, black ground bird endemic to the upland forests on Waigeo Island. Black above with some chestnut in the breast and a bare pink head and throat. The male has rather distasteful flaps of bare red skin on the head and a wattle hanging down from the base of the throat. The male often twitches his head. The only other member of the family on Waigeo is the Dusky Scrubfowl, but Waigeo Brushturkey is larger with a pinkish head.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Aepypodius bruijnii
Authority
(Oustalet, 1880)
Order
Galliformes
Family
Megapodiidae
Genus
Aepypodius

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Other Birds

Cassin's Honeybird

Cassin's Honeybird

Prodotiscus insignis

A small, upright honeyguide of forest and forest edge, where it forages for insects and flycatches into the open. Plumage is a relatively uniform olive-green to green, with a paler throat, small pale eye arcs, and bright white outer tail feathers that are obvious when flying out for insects. Similar to Green-backed Honeyguide and Wahlberg’s Honeyguide, but differs in range, in its overall greenish coloration including the belly, and in its clean white outer tail feathers. Voice is little known, but apparently gives a buzzy trill in flight that rises and falls in pitch. 

Lemon-throated Barbet

Lemon-throated Barbet

Eubucco richardsoni

Small, colorful barbet of lowland rainforest canopy. Plumage variable across its range: males are typically green-olive above and bright yellow below, with a crimson crown and sides of the face (but crimson replaced with black in northeastern Peru and adjacent northwestern Brazil) and variable amounts of orange on breast; females are similar but duller, often with more gray in the head. Usually found near water, around oxbow lakes, forest streams, and swampy forest; also found in secondary forest and forest edges. Frequently associates with mixed species flocks. Listen for its low, rolling song.

Dorst's Cisticola

Dorst's Cisticola

Cisticola guinea

Small but strong-billed cisticola that is rufous on the cap and the back of the neck, rich gray-brown on the back, and pale buff below. The back is plain in breeding plumage but has blurry streaks in non-breeding plumage. Note the black band and pale tips across the end of the tail. Found locally in savanna and dry woodland, mostly in the grassy understory. Very similar to Red-pate Cisticola, and best distinguished by song, but also has a duller rufous cap and more buffy underparts, especially the undertail. Also similar to Foxy and Rufous Cisticolas, but larger, with a rufous cap that contrasts with the gray-brown back. The song is a short, high-pitched trill, sometimes followed by several whistled notes. 

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