Scrubfowl

Scrubfowl
Orange-footed scrubfowl
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Galliformes
Family:	Megapodiidae
Genus:	Megapodius Gaimard, 1823
Type species
Megapodius freycinet Gaimard, 1823
Species
14 total, 12 extant, see text.

The scrubfowl are the genus Megapodius of the mound-builders, stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. They are found from south-east Asia to north Australia and islands in the west Pacific.

They do not incubate their eggs with their body heat in the orthodox way, but bury them. They are best known for building a massive mound of decaying vegetation, which the male attends, adding or removing litter to regulate the internal heat while the eggs hatch.

Taxonomy

The genus Megapodius was introduced in 1823 by the French naturalist Joseph Gaimard. ^[1] He listed several species in his new genus but in 1840 the English naturalist Prideaux John Selby designated the type species as Megapodius freycinet Gaimard, the dusky megapode. ^{[2] [3]} The genus name combines the Ancient Greek μεγας/megas, μεγαλη/megalē meaning "big" with πους/pous, ποδος/podos meaning "foot". ^[4]

The genus contains 12 species: ^[5]

Image	Scientific name	Common Name	Distribution
	Megapodius pritchardii	Tongan megapode	Tonga
	Megapodius laperouse	Micronesian megapode	Palau and the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam
	Megapodius nicobariensis	Nicobar megapode	Nicobar Islands (India)
	Megapodius cumingii	Philippine megapode	The Philippines, northeastern Borneo, and Sulawesi
	Megapodius bernsteinii	Sula megapode	Banggai and Sula Islands between Sulawesi and the Maluku Islands in Indonesia
	Megapodius tenimberensis	Tanimbar megapode	Tanimbar Islands of Indonesia
	Megapodius freycinet	Dusky megapode	Maluku and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia.
	Megapodius geelvinkianus	Biak scrubfowl	Biak, Mios Korwar, Numfor, Manim and Mios Numin in the West Papua region of Indonesia.
	Megapodius eremita	Melanesian megapode	Bismarck Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) and the Solomon Islands.
	Megapodius layardi	Vanuatu megapode	Vanuatu
	Megapodius decollatus	New Guinea scrubfowl	Northern New Guinea and adjacent islands
	Megapodius reinwardt	Orange-footed scrubfowl	Lesser Sunda Islands as well as southern New Guinea and northern Australia.

Two extinct species have been described form sub-fossil remains:

• †Pile-builder scrubfowl (Megapodius molistructor) ^[6]
• †Viti Levu scrubfowl (Megapodius amissus) ^[7]

In all of the above, the name "scrubfowl" is sometimes exchanged with "megapode". Traditionally, most have been listed as subspecies of M. freycinet, but today all major authorities consider this incorrect. Nevertheless, there are unresolved issues within the genus, and for example the taxon forstenii has been considered a subspecies of M. freycinet, a subspecies of M. cumingii, or a monotypic species. An additional species, the Moluccan megapode, has sometimes been placed in Megapodius, but today most place it in the genus Eulipoa instead. The maleo is also associated with these genera, and together the three form a group.

References

1. Gaimard, Joseph Paul (1823). "Mémoire sur un nouveau genre de Gallinacés établi sur de nom de Mégapode". Bulletin Général et Universel des Annonces et de Nouvelles Scientifiques (in French). 2: 450-451 [450].
2. Selby, Prideaux John (1840). A Catalogue of the Generic and Sub-Generic Types of the Class Aves, Birds, Arranged According to the Natural System. Newcastle: T. and J. Hodgson. p. 40.
3. Peters, James Lee, ed. (1934). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 3.
4. Jobling, James A. "Megapodius". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Megapodes, guans, guineafowl, New World quail". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
6. Balouet, J.C.; Olson, S.L. (1989). Fossil birds from Late Quaternary Deposits in New Caledonia. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology: 469. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institutional Press. pp. 9–11.
7. Worthy, T. H. (2000). "The fossil megapodes (Aves: Megapodiidae) of Fiji with descriptions of a new genus and two new species". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 30 (4): 337–364. doi: 10.1080/03014223.2000.9517627 .

External links

• Mound-builders videos on the Internet Bird Collection