In July 2023 we were taking a guided walk with a ranger on Komodo Island, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, looking for Komodo dragons. My camera was barely operating as I'd gotten it very wet in the rainforest on the Island of Sumatra and the auto focus was not working. I was having to do manual focus. We saw a group of orange-footed spurfowl, also known as orange-footed megapode. They were too far away for me to get photos with my cell phone and too fast for me to use my auto focus. I got one horribly blurry, terrible photo, but it is an extremely cool bird.
 |
| Orange-footed scrubfowl. The orange legs really stand out as does the bluish neck. |
 |
| Orange-footed scrubfowl illustration from Birds of the World. |
The orange-footed scrubfowl has a long-pointed crest at the back of the head, grayish-blue plumage with a chestnut tinge on the back, orange legs and feet and red bare facial skin. It is about the size of a domestic chicken.
It is found on many of the Lesser Sunda Islands, southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Birds of the World specifically notes, "On Komodo, breeds in coastal woodland or scrub, or in similar habitats alongside dry riverbeds; mounds sometimes only c. 100–200 m from human habitation, though usually well hidden."
Some birds have poetic names, and others have names that just bluntly say what they are, like this one. Poor little bird.
ReplyDelete