Le Mégapode maléo Macrocephalon maleo maleo The Maleo Macrocephalon maleo is a medium sized approximately 55cm long blackish meg
Le Mégapode maléo Macrocephalon maleo maleo The Maleo Macrocephalon maleo is a medium sized approximately 55cm long blackish megapode with bare yellow facial skin reddish brown iris reddish orange beak and rosy salmon underparts The crown is ornamented with a black helmet casque The greyish blue feet have four long sharp claws separated by a membranous web The sexes are almost similar with a slightly smaller and duller female The only member of the monotypic genus Macrocephalon the Maleo is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi It is found in the tropical lowland and hill forests but nests in the open sandy areas volcanic soils or beaches that are heated by the sun or geothermal for incubation There are also megapode species that use fermenting compost to incubate their eggs The Maleo s egg is large about five times of the domestic chicken s The female lays and covers each egg in a deep hole in the sand and allow the incubation to take place through solar or volcanic heating After the egg hatched the young birds work their own way up through the sand and hide into forests The young bird is able to fly and totally independent It has to find foods and defends itself from predators such as lizards pythons wild pigs or cats The Maleo is monogamous and members of a pair stay close to each other all the time Its diet consists mainly of fruits seeds ants termites beetles and other small invertebrates Since 1972 this species has been protected by the Indonesian government Due to ongoing habitat loss limited range high chick mortality rates and overhunting in some areas the Maleo is evaluated as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species It is listed on Appendix I of CITES
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Photo credit: © A & J Visage / Alamy / Afripics
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