Orange-footed scrubfowl

Orange-footed scrubfowl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Galliformes
Family: Megapodiidae
Genus: Megapodius
Species: M. reinwardt
Binomial name
Megapodius reinwardt
Dumont, 1823
Subspecies
  • M. r. buruensis (Stresemann, 1914)
  • M. r. castanonotus (Mayr, 1938)
  • M. r. reinwardt (Dumont, 1823)
  • M. r. macgillivrayi (GR Gray, 1862)
  • M. r. tumulus (Gould, 1842)
  • M. r. yorki (Mathews, 1929)

The orange-footed scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae.

This species comprises five subspecies found on many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as southern New Guinea and northern Australia. It is a terrestrial bird the size of a domestic chicken and dark-coloured with strong orange legs and a pointed crest at the back of the head. It utilises a range of forest and scrub habitats and has colonised many small islands throughout its range. It is prolific in suburban Darwin gardens, where people refer to it as a Bush Turkey.

In general, populations seem to be stable and the conservation status of the species is considered to be of Least Concern.

M. r. macgillivrayi

The orange-footed scrubfowl feeds on seeds, fallen fruit and terrestrial invertebrates. As with other megapodes, it nests in large mounds of sand, leaf litter and other debris where the heat generated by the decomposition of organic material serves to incubate the eggs. Construction and maintenance of the mounds, which may reach 4.5 m (15 ft) in height and 9 m (30 ft) in diameter, takes place throughout the year.

Some of the subspecies may be treated as full species, such as the Tanimbar scrubfowl (Megapodius tenimberensis), while other subspecies may be considered subspecies of other species (e.g., M. r. buruensis is sometimes considered a subspecies of the dusky megapode).

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2013). "Megapodius reinwardt". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
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