thumb|right|Brushturkeys can often be found in parks or gardens.
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. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all except the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black in color. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any bird. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers, and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey and, in some species, fly on the day they hatch.
Description
Megapodes are medium-sized to large terrestrial birds with large legs and feet with sharp claws, which assist them in the preparation of pits and mounds to incubate their eggs. Megapodes are of three kinds: scrub fowl, brush turkeys, and mallee fowl or lowan. The largest members of the clade are the species of Alectura and Talegalla. The smallest are the Micronesian scrubfowl (Megapodius laperouse) and the Moluccan scrubfowl (Eulipoa wallacei). They have small heads, short beaks, and rounded and large wings. Their flying abilities vary within the clade. They present the hallux at the same level of the other toes just like the species of the clade Cracidae. The other Galliformes have their halluces raised above the level of the front toes. Their eggs are unusual in having a large yolk, making up 50–70% of the egg weight. Their eggs are about twice the size of chicken eggs and the yolks are roughly four times as massive. Among the peoples who live near megapode habitats, megapode eggs are regularly gifted as signs of loyalty, friendship and respect.
The context of egg harvesting by humans has undergone recent cultural changes. While it was formerly regulated by ritual conventions which restricted the harvest to particular castes and the consumption to local communities, since the 1950's the limitations have disintegrated. The egg harvest reached its peak in the 1970's, when it was estimated that between 4-8.9 million Melanesian megapode eggs were harvested annually, in Pokili alone. As of 2000, out of the 131 original nesting sites, 42 were abandoned, 38 were severely threatened, 34 were threatened, 12 were of unknown status and only 5 were considered viable. Nine megapode species are considered at risk of extinction.
See also
- List of recently extinct birds
- Late Quaternary prehistoric birds
- List of fossil bird genera
Footnotes
References
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