Guineafowl. An interesting group of species - and name, for that matter,
now compressed into one word in the current fashion, possibly a consequence
of the number of influential biologists of German-speaking backgrounds. You
might have difficulty finding it in the Gill/Wright list of international
English names though, where in the index, due to some aberration of the
computer, it appears not after 'Guillemot' but after 'Gull'.
It was kept by the Romans, and was the original 'turkey fowl', being
mentioned as such by Chaucer in the fourteenth century, long before the
present 'turkeys' (named for the guineafowl) were brought from the New
World.
They are said to have been kept in mediaeval farmyards as a precaution
against raids by foxes, the common species being famous for its alarm call.
My acquaintances who have kept them free-ranging about their properties,
from the Daintree to Geelong, have all lost them at varying rates of
attrition, although I suspect that is due to failure of the management to
recognise and respond to the alarm call rather than the Australian strain
being of the voiceless variety. Come to think of it, the specimen
occasionally reported around Ainslie is - or was (?) - a remarkable
survivor. There is certainly no shortage of suburban foxes about, the local
fox/guineafowl ratio being about 500:1.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bron King
Sent: Friday, 24 August 2007 5:51 PM
To: Canberrabirds
Subject: Feather - what is it?
Thanks to all for your suggestions.
Guinea Fowl was my own best guess too (although I wondered whether the
spacing
of the spots might be a bit too close).
As for Geoffrey's and Philip's suggestion that it came from a
hat: anyone wearing a hat like that
in Jolly Street late at night could lose more than their feather.
At 07:30 PM 23/08/2007, you wrote:
>Found living rough on Jolly Street, Belconnen (commercial
>area). 175mm long. Any ideas?
>
>
>
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