These Tasmanian Native hens can reach 50km/hr which is why they are referred to as "Turbo chooks" here in Australia. They are entirely confined to Tasmania, but unlike other Tasmanian endemic species, it does not occur on the main islands in Bass Strait (King and Flinders Islands). Although the islands support plenty of suitable open habitats, such as farmland, grasslands and lush wetlands, being flightless, native-hens have never been able to colonise these islands from the Tasmanian mainland. In fact, King and Flinders Islands are entirely free of native-hens, as the Black-tailed Native-hen, which is widespread on the Australian mainland, has never been recorded there either! This one was photographed in Burnie, NW Tasmania.
7Dii, 400mm, 1/200th sec, f5.6, iso320. Small crop only.
Last edited by Paul Burdett; 10-08-2018 at 02:09 AM.
Wild looking bird. Sharp on the face and for me, the blurred foot adds. The trees (or posts?) and the bush detract. Though I do not know this species at all, the colors look a bit muddy to me ...
Thanks for sharing,
with love, artie
ps: I wonder what the species list is for BPN ... I'd guess 3,000 or so. Perhaps.
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Hi Artie,
Thank you for the feedback. I agree with the detracting background. The colours are as I saw it (no colour editing applied in post). The following info explains and comes from the website link below. Cheers.
The Tasmanian Native-hen has a large yellow bill, a red eye, brown head, back and wings and is slate grey on its underparts. The contrasting black tail is long and narrow and is flattened along the mid-line of the bird . The legs are powerful and grey in colour. Juvenile birds are similar to adults but duller.
"Turbo Chook"
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