Alternative names: Orange-footed Megapode
- Megapodius reinwardt
Identification
30–47 cm (12-18½ ins)
- Dark grey
- Small Head
- Orange legs
- Crest at the back of the head.
Similar Species
Australian Brushturkey, which has bare red head and neck and a vertical fanned tail. Other Scrubfowl/Megapodes are not expected to overlap in range.
Distribution
Asia: Indonesia: Lesser Sundas Sulawesi (Tukangbesi islands), Moluccas (Banda islands, Kai, Aru islands) Australasia: Papua New Guinea, Australia: Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, northern Western Australia, Melanesia
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 5 subspecies[1]:
- M. r. reinwardt:
- Lesser Sundas, south-eastern Moluccas, Aru Island, south and south-eastern New Guinea
- M. r. macgillivrayi:
- D'Entrecasteaux Islands and Louisiade Archipelago
- M. r. tumulus:
- Northern Australia
- M. r. yorki:
- North-eastern Australia (Cape York Peninsula and adjacent islands)
- M. r. castanonotus:
- East-central Queensland (Cooktown to Yeppoon and offshore islands)
Habitat
Photo © by Valéry Schollaert
Mbeliling Raw, Flores, Indonesia, early June 2020
This image comes from Birdforum thread https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=4017675#post4017675 . In the same thread is the story of the bird being released after photo was taken.
Scrub, rainforest, foreshores and city parks
Behaviour
- Occurs in Pairs or Parties
- Perches in trees
- Active, noisy at dawn and at night
- When disturbed runs quickly or flies to low branch.
- Sits motionless with outstretched neck.
Diet
Their diet consists mostly of seeds, fallen fruit, and other vegetable matter, occasionally also terrestrial invertebrates.
Breeding
The nest is a large mound formed from sand, sticks and decomposing vegetable matter. The eggs are laid when the mound reaches a temperature of around 30-35 degrees C. The clutch may consist of 12-13 eggs, laid over many weeks.
The nest may be re-used for some years, either by the same couple or others.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Elliott, A., G. M. Kirwan, and D. A. Christie (2020). Orange-footed Megapode (Megapodius reinwardt), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.orfscr1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Orange-footed Scrubfowl. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Orange-footed_Scrubfowl
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
