Australian Brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

Found only in Australia

• Native to eastern and northeastern Australia (Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
  • Cape York, northern Queensland, to just south of Sydney, New South Wales (Jones and Göth 2008)
• Introduced (Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
  • Kangaroo Island
  • Dunk Island (off east-central Queensland)
    • May still persist here

Distribution of subspecies

(Elliott and Kirwan 2017)

• Yellow-pouched Brush-turkey (Alectura lathami lathami)
  • Central and southern Queensland
  • Eastern New South Wales
• Purple-pouched Brush-turkey (Alectura lathami purpureicollis)
  • Northern Queensland

Changes in distribution

• Recent changes
  • Disappeared from areas in southern and western Australia (Göth et al. 2006)
  • Range has expanded into suburban areas and coastal areas in eastern Australia (Göth et al. 2006; Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
    • Perceptions of range expansion may also be related to:
      • Increased reporting
      • Reduction of hunting pressure
      • Birds remaining in areas where they are fed by people
• Historical notes
  • This species once had a much wider distribution (Göth et al. 2006)
    • Ranged south to Cape Howe and as far west as the Pilliga region
  • Early 20^th century
    • Range expanded inland due to spread of prickly pear cactus (Göth et al. 2006; Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
      • Australian Brush-turkeys ate fruits and used cactus as mound material in hot, dry regions
      • Distribution contracted as humans removed this plant
    • Southern part of range contracted (Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
  • Later in the 20^th century (Jones and Göth 2008)
    • Significant range contraction
    • Probably due to a combination of causes, including hunting and habitat destruction on the East Coast

Typical habitats

• Rainforest along coasts and tropical-to-warm temperate zones (Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
• Seems to prefer closed habitats, where vegetation provides cover (Elliott and Kirwan 2017)
• Sightings in suburban areas have increased since about 2000 (Jones and Göth 2008)

Occurs in a variety of other habitats

(Jones et al. 1995; Elliott and Kirwan 2017, and as noted)

• Dry or wet sclerophyll woodland (Jones and Göth 2008)
• Swamp woodland, including mangroves
• Eucalypt forest
• Gallery forest
• Dry creek scrub
• Human-altered habitats (Jones and Everding 1991; Warnken et al. 2004)
  • Suburban areas
    • Gardens
    • Parks
  • Picnic areas and campgrounds
  • Food attracts Brush-turkeys to these areas
    • Actively fed by people
    • Find food not properly thrown away by people

Preferred habitats

• Thrives in humid, coastal environments (Grellet-Tinner et al. 2017)
• Usually only moves into suburban areas near forests or bushland (Jones and Göth 2008)
  • May still depend on habitat areas not overly modified by humans
• Also see “Incubation Mounds” in Reproduction

Australian Brush-turkeys live in eastern and northeastern Australia.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).