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megapode nest

Megapodius sp. or Talegalla sp.

Photo by Scott Frazier
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

This is a nest of a megapode. "The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae." They do not incubate their eggs but rely on the heat produced by fermentation of rotting vegetation in the mound. The chicks are extremely precocial at hatching.

Habitat:

Mixed lowland and sago swamp forest.

Notes:

Coordinate position is not precise.

Reference Links:

Megapode

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (8)
Scott Frazier
Yes they are. I see the nests quite frequently but never a good view of a 'wild' bird...
Ava T-B
Wow, they're composters! What a great spotting.
lori.tas
Please add this to the "Signs of Wildlife" mission.
lori.tas
Ah, that's good to hear. I thought maybe you were into bush food.
Scott Frazier
Oh, I don't pilfer them. The local people gather them for food but they have to endure bird lice hell to do so!
lori.tas
This is the only one I've gotten a half-way decent photo of: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/5384563 What do you do with the eggs you've pilfered?
Scott Frazier
Thank you. I've seen a lot of mounds, and pilfered eggs, but never a live megapode. In northern NG there are two types of eggs most commonly observed. One is like a brown chicken egg but 2-3x larger. The other is red and larger still.
lori.tas
Nice spotting. I've seen one in Queensland, on the bank of the Daintree river. It belonged to an orange-footed scrubfowl.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Signs of Wildlife
Mission
Nests, hives, bowers, webs & other animal architecture
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 2, 2011

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