Nature: the Quirky, the Wonderful, and the Astounding!

Quirky Brush Turkey Dads

Brush turkeys from Australia have a unique way to raise their young. Instead of building a nest, laying eggs, and sitting on the eggs until they hatch, brush turkeys rely upon heat from other sources to incubate their eggs. The male piles leaves, sticks, and brush into a huge mound or compost pile. As the leaves and organic matter decay, this process creates heat, as it does in any backyard compost pile. This makes a perfect incubator for the eggs!

Various females come by to lay a single large egg in the mound of vegetation. Once the female has laid her single egg, she has nothing more to do with her young. Each female leaves her egg with the protective male, who guards his mound from any danger, and soon he has several eggs of different ages.

The brush turkey dad works tirelessly for months, for