The Sula megapode or Sula scrubfowl (''Megapodius bernsteinii'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the family

Megapodiidae 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 ...

. It is found only in the Banggai and

Sula Islands The Sula Islands Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Sula) is one of the regencies in North Maluku province of Indonesia. It covers a land area of 3,338.67 km2 and consists of two of the three large islands comprising the Sula Archipelago, together ...

between

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

and the

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...

in Indonesia, where its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are

subtropical or tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discont ...

, subtropical or tropical

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

, and

subtropical or tropical moist shrubland The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...

. It is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

Description

The Sula scrubfowl is a large ground-dwelling bird growing to a length of between . The sexes are similar in appearance, being a uniform reddish-brown colour and having a short, pointed crest and long red or orange-red legs and feet.

Distribution

It is known only from the Banggai and

, groups of islands between

and the

in Indonesia. Habitats include lowland forests as well as dense scrub near forests and farmland, at altitudes of up to .

Ecology

The species usually forages in pairs, but on one occasion, a group of five birds moving about and feeding together was recorded, perhaps an adult pair and their young. The diet mainly consists of roots and

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, including

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

s. Very little was known of the breeding habits of this bird so a study was undertaken in 1991. Nine birds were in the vicinity of the study site, four pairs and a single bird. There was much vocalisation mostly in the form of duetting and choruses, with all the birds joining in synchrony. Calling took place in the mornings and to a lesser extent in the afternoons indicating the presence of birds close to the nest. The study nest was a cone-shaped mound in a fallow cultivated field close to scrub and forest remnants. It was built over two rotting logs and was constructed of sand and clay. Eggs are laid by the female in the mound and covered with soil (this was not observed). During the month-long observation period, a bird (or sometimes two) would approach the mound on most days and rake the surface with its claws. The bird faced downhill and scratched the surface with alternate feet, working in one instance for 116 minutes. Another bird could sometimes be heard in the nearby undergrowth. The scratching bird was alert to danger, freezing at unexpected noises, and peering round and responding to the warning cries of the

blue-backed parrot The blue-backed parrot (''Tanygnathus everetti''), also known as Müller's (or Mueller's) parrot is a large, endangered species of parrot endemic to the Philippines. It is found in tropical moist lowland forests. Flocks are small and often acti ...

(''Tanygnathus sumatranus'') and the spangled drongo (''Dicrurus bracteatus'').

Monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

s (''Varanus'') sometimes tried to raid the nest, usually after an adult bird had been raking, but had little success while the researchers were watching.

Status

''M. bernsteinii'' faces a number of threats and its total population is thought to be declining. Its natural forest habitat is threatened by logging and is being converted into agricultural land, the birds are hunted and their eggs collected for human consumption, and they and their young are preyed on by feral cats and dogs. The total area of occupancy of this bird is only about and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed its conservation status as being " vulnerable".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q606442 Sula megapode Birds of Wallacea Sula megapode Taxonomy articles created by Polbot