Adventure Birding 'n Outdoors in New Guinea's Wild West
Adult mound-tending male Bruijn's Brushturkey Aepypodius bruijnii photographed for the first
time ever in the wild, atop its nest mound in ridgetop cloud-forest on Mount Danai, Waigeo Island, Raja Ampat archipelago, eastern
Indonesia. Copyright © Papua Expeditions and Charles Davies
Endangered Bruijn's Brushturkey photographed for the first time in the wild on a PE exploratory bird tour
Bird-watchers on a Papua Expeditions exploratory bird tour to Mount Danai on the Indonesian island of
Waigeo have taken the first photographs in the wild of the endemic Bruijn's Brushturkey Aepypodius bruijnii, a unique
species of megapode which remained entirely unknown in the living world during more than 120 years between its formal description
from trade skins in 1880 and its field discovery by PE birder-in-residence Iwein Mauro on nearby Mount Nok in May 2002.
Early April 2007 PE birders-in-residence Iwein Mauro and Zeth Wonggor, and British bird-watcher Charles Davies
watched a fine adult male brushturkey persistently displaying from atop its nest mound just four meters away from their hide in
ridgetop cloud-forest on Mount Danai. The group also repeatedly observed a soliciting female visiting the mound while the male
was away. The accompanying image above shows the adult mound-tending male in display condition, with brownish facial skin,
grotesquely enlarged bright pink comb and nape shield, both densely covered with wart-like papilla, and an apparently double
flesh-colored inflated pendulous wattle on the foreneck.
Iwein Mauro, who led the tour and is a member of the IUCN SSC/WPA Megapode Specialist Group for the period
2005-2008, said: 'The ascertainment that a population of Bruijn's Brushturkey exists on Mount Danai is perhaps the single-most
significant step forward in our understanding of the species' conservation status and needs. Mount Danai alone is believed to
contain 60% of cloud-forest habitat on Waigeo and up to 65% of the world population of this remarkable brushturkey. Moreover,
it is a virtually untouched, trackless wilderness area that is apparently rarely, if ever, visited by local communities even.
Clearly, the area is of utmost importance to the long-term survival of this species as well as other Waigeo and regionally
endemic birdlife.'
The ascertainment that a population of Bruijn's Brush-turkey exists on Mount Danai is perhaps the single-most
significant step forward in our understanding of the species' conservation status and needs. Mount Danai alone is believed to
contain 60% of cloud-forest habitat on Waigeo and up to 65% of the world population of this remarkable brush-turkey. Moreover,
it is a virtually untouched, trackless wilderness area that is apparently rarely, if ever, visited by local communities even.
Clearly, the area is of utmost importance to the long-term survival of this species, as well as other Waigeo and regionally
endemic birdlife. — Iwein Mauro
Bruijn's Brushturkey is currently treated as Vulnerable but upgrading to Endangered in accordance with the
IUCN Red List categories and criteria has recently been formally proposed by Mauro (2006). Habitat destruction as a consequence
of wild fires and logging on Waigeo has been identified as the major factor threatening the species' long-term survival.
In addition to securing the first photographs in the wild of Bruijn's Brushturkey, the birding group confirmed
the presence on Mount Danai of all Waigeo endemic and near-endemic birdlife, plus a host of new island records already obtained
by Mauro on nearby Mounts Nok and Sau Lal in 2002. Among the latter category are healthy populations of Wallace's Owlet-nightjar
Aegotheles wallacii and Tropical Scrubwren Sericornis beccarii, whose exact taxonomic affinities still require
further elucidation.
NOVEL BIRDS FROM WAIGEO ISLAND
Wallace's Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles wallacii and Tropical Scrubwren Sericornis beccarii are
among a host of new island records for Waigeo Island which were first obtained by PE birder-in-residence Iwein Mauro on Mounts
Nok and Sau Lal back in 2002, and which have now also been observed on Mount Danai. Copyright © Iwein Mauro
Additional information
Bruijn's Brushturkey Aepypodius bruijnii belongs to the megapodes Megapodiidae, a family
renowned for its exceptional incubation strategy, exploiting environmental heat sources and exhibiting no parental care. The
species builds heaps of leaf litter and other organic material, called 'mounds', in which the heat produced by microbial
decomposition incubates the eggs.
Named in 1880 in honor of the immortal Dutch merchant of Ternate, A. A. Bruijn — a dealer in virtually
every product the Moluccas and Vogelkop region had to offer, including natural history specimens — Bruijn's Brushturkey
arguably was the most sought-after bird species of the entire New Guinea faunal region.
Indeed, it were native collectors in the service of the 'King of Ternate' (as Bruijn was nicknamed during the
height of his entrepreneurship) that stood at the origin of the collection of likely all but one of a staggering twenty-four
historical museum specimens known from this brushturkey.
However, despite more than fifteen subsequent ornithological expeditions and reconnaissance visits actively
searching for this megapode, it managed to remain entirely unknown in the living world during the more than 120 years that
elapsed in between its formal description and its ultimate field discovery on Mount Nok in May 2002 by Mauro.
Bruijn's Brushturkey is endemic to the island of Waigeo in the Raja Ampat group of eastern Indonesia, where it
nests only on the highest ridges and peaks, along an ecological gradient above 620 m elevation where a structurally distinctive,
wind-sheared and possibly locally edaphically controlled, stunted cloud-forest thrives on infertile substrates.
The species' breeding habitat comprises just 60 square kilometers or 1.9% of the island's area and is contained
within six locations, three of which are now confirmed to support breeding populations.
The global population of Bruijn's Brushturkey has been estimated at 349 mound-owning males or 977 mature
individuals, with 98% of the population restricted to just three locations in the eastern part of the island.
Learn more about this unique megapode and its plight for survival through the following resources available
online:
❯Mauro, I. (2004). The
field discovery, ecology, monitoring and conservation of an enigma: Bruijn's Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii.
Final report to Van Tienhoven Foundation for International Nature Protection and WPA/BirdLife/SSC Megapode Specialist Group
(in PDF-format, from vantienhovenfoundation.com).
❯Mauro, I. (2006). Habitat,
microdistribution and conservation status of the enigmatic Bruijn's Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii. Bird
Conservation International 16:279-292. doi: 10.1017/S0959270906000372 (from journals cambridge.org).
Important notice
The management of Papua Expeditions (EKONEXION) feels compelled to forewarn the general public
that British national Charles Davies is not employed by or whatsoever affiliated to Papua Expeditions (EKONEXION),
and therefore evidently is not entitled to publicly represent Papua Expeditions (EKONEXION), and/or issue statements
on behalf of Papua Expeditions (EKONEXION). Any public statements made and/or information disclosed by Mr. Davies
regarding the PE exploratory bird tour on which the first photographs of Bruijn's Brushturkey were secured, strictly reflect his
own personal insights, points of view, and interests.
Related links
❯Read on about our short birding
break to Waigeo Island.
❯Read on about our prolonged birding
expeditions visiting Waigeo Island.