Brujin's Brush-turkey

Open encyclopedia reference

The Waigeo brushturkey (Aepypodius bruijnii) or Bruijn's brushturkey, is a large (approximately 43 cm long) brownish-black megapode with a bare red facial skin, red comb, maroon rump, and chestnut brown below. There are two elongated red wattles on the back of the head and a long wattle on the foredeck. Both sexes are similar. The female has a smaller comb and no wattles.

An Indonesian endemic, the Waigeo brushturkey inhabits mountain forests on Waigeo Island of West Papua.

Previously known from less than twenty-five specimens, this little-known species was relocated in 2002. The name commemorates the Dutch merchant Anton August Bruijn.

This bird is threatened by hunting, ongoing habitat loss, small population size, and a limited range. It was formerly classified as a Vulnerable species by the IUCN. But new research has shown it to be rarer than it was believed. Consequently, it was uplisted to Endangered status in 2008.

Wikipedia contributors, Waigeo brushturkey; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:48:51.434658+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Aepypodius bruijnii (Oustalet, 1880)

Name authority

(Oustalet, 1880)

Common name

Brujin's Brush-turkey

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Galliformes

Family

Megapodiidae

Genus

Aepypodius

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderGalliformes
10. familyMegapodiidae
11. genusAepypodius Oustalet, 1880
12. speciesAepypodius bruijnii (Oustalet, 1880)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Aepypodius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 16 records assigned to Megapodiidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=175711 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:64ZLR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.