From Opus

Alternative name: Nicobar Scrubfowl

Megapodius nicobariensis

[edit] Identification

Brown stout pheasant-like bird with large powerful legs and toes. Sexes alike, ashy-grey head with bare red skin showing near the eyes. The underparts are brownish-grey. Immature birds are without the bare red skin patch.

[edit] Distribution

Nicobar Islands

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Habitat

Dense undergrowth of evergreen forests on sandy beaches of islands.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

Includes vegetable matter, seeds, snails and insects.

[edit] Breeding

Their eggs are incubated by burying them in large nest-mounds of sand and humus. The eggs incubate by the heat of decaying vegetation. Chicks use their claws to break out of the egg, and then tunnel their way up to the surface of the mound. They hatch feathered, active and independent.

[edit] External Links

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages