Hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin, in the twilight above a rainforest lake, Ecuadorian Amazonia. His somewhat rococo crest of individual curls, though hers is black and white. She has buffy bars across her wings and back, and shares Which mainly feeds on the ground, especially on fallen fruit. Male Bare-faced Curassow Crax fasciolata, Pantanal, Brazil.A big cracid (the family of guans and chachalacas) I love the fan-shaped crest above the lipstick-red bill. They are ground-hunters of a range of small animals, sometimes described as ecologicalĪnalogs of the unrelated African Secretarybird Sagittarius serpentarius.

There are two South American species of seriema, the only members of their own Family but also anĮntire Order. Red-legged Seriema Cariama cristata, Pantanal, Brazil. Might interpret as reminiscent of an Elvis impersonator.

Both carry the extreme forward-leaning crest, which the anthropomorphically-inclined Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo pair Calyptorhynchus banksii, near Barcaldine, central Queensland. Only the males have the red head and outlandishly clownish wispy crest. In Canberra they are quite common throughout the urban area,įeeding quietly on fruit and seeds, creaking like corks coming out of old-fashioned wine bottles. Woodlands of the south-east corner of Australia. A small cockatoo of the wetter forests and subalpine Male Gang-gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum, Canberra. In no particular order (well, not very much) - I don't want to upset anybody or anybirdy. Seems to provide a link between waterfowl and the terrestrial South American screamers.Īnd now (with drum roll) I want to present my favourite headgear among the birds which are not named for it. These dramatic waterfowl, common across northern AustraliaĪnd southern New Guinea, are not geese or ducks, but the only members of their primitive family which In this case the 'bump' on the head comprises spongy bone it increases in size with age and is thus Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata, near Darwin. Its purpose, though often asserted to be for pushing through rainforest, remains unknown,īut an indicator of age and fitness - and thus dominance - is perhaps the most plausible explanation. It is rigid from front to back, but elastic from side to side. The striking casque is not, as has long been supposed, a bony structure, but comprises a 'very tough, elastic, foam-like substance firmly fused to the skull', (to quote Handbook of the Birds of the World) covered in tough skin. Southern Cassowary Casuarius casuarius, Etty Bay near Innisfail, north Queensland. Red-necked Woodpecker Campephilus rubricollis, Tambopata Research Centre, southern Peruvian Amazonia.Īnother which favours a neat little peak.Ī few birds adorn their heads with structures that aren't composed of feathers. Found across northern Australia and into New GuineaĪnd Indonesia, this is a megapode, an ancient group of birds which incubate their eggs in huge mounds of decomposing Orange-footed Scrubfowl Megapodius reinwardt, Darwin. The species occupies a tiny area of the eastern slopes of the Andes in Peru, and is listed as Endangered. Given this, the little purple-blue crest might seem a little superfluous. These can be moved independently of each other, andįeature heavily in its rivetting aerial courtship displays. Pair of outer tail feathers with racket-shaped tips.

Outstanding even among hummingbirds, this spectacular little beauty's most obvious glories are its amazing Marvellous Spatuletail Loddigesia mirabilis, Huembo Lodge, north Peru. Genus as the whipbirds, like the previous species.įortunately for us, the two wedgebill species have different ranges and very different calls. This arid land bird (one of two almost identical species) has recently been placed in the same Chiming Wedgebill Psophodes occidentalis, Shark Bay, Western Australia.

Talking ability of gang gang cockatoo