| Orange-footed Scrubfowl Megapodius
reinwardt (aka Orange-footed Megapode) |
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Australia The Orange-footed Scrubfowl is distributed from the Philippines and Indonesia, through Papua New Guinea to northern and north-eastern Australia. They are found mainly in rainforest and along the sea shore. |
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It incubates its eggs using natural heat generated in a large nest mound which can measure up to 7 metres in diameter and 3 metres in height. In the rainforest this is built of leaves and the decomposition of the leaves generates sufficient heat to reach 33°C, the heat at which the eggs should be laid. During incubation the heat is regulated by the adults removing or adding leaf litter. By the shore, the mounds are mainly of sand where the heat of the sun is probably the main source of heat. The chicks hatch inside the mound, make their way to the surface and are immediately capable of running quite fast. | |||
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The specific name comes from Caspar Reinwardt, a Dutch ornithologist who worked in Indonesia in the early 19th
century. There is more information available via Avibase.
They often call during the night as well as during the day. |
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