Megapodius lapérouse senex Hartlaub
Micronesian Megapode
Megapodius senex Hartlaub, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1867 (1868), p. 820. (Type locality, Pelew Islands.)
Megapodius senex Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 7, 118 (Pelew); Gray, Hand-list Birds, 2, 1870, p. 256 (Pelew); Hartlaub and Finsch, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1872, pp. 89, 103 (Pelew); Finsch, Journ. Mus. Godeffroy, 8, 1875, pp. 5, 29, pl. 5, fig. 2, 3 (Palau); Giebel, Thes. Ornith., 2, 1875, p. 547 (Pelew); Schmeltz and Krause, Ethnogr. Abth. Mus. Godeffroy, 1881, p. 407 (Palau); Oustalet, Ann. Sci. Nat., (6), art. 2, 1881, pp. 63, 140, 145, 171, 175 (Pelew); Tristram, Cat. Birds, 1889, p. 30 (Pelew); Wiglesworth, Abhandl. und Ber. Zool. Mus. Dresden, no. 6, 1890-1891 (1891), p. 58 (Pelew); Oustalet, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool., 11, 1891, p. 196 (Peleu); idem, Nouv. Arch Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, (3), 8, 1896, p. 30 (Palaos); Ogilvie-Grant, Hand-book Game-birds, 2, 1897, p. 182 (Pelew); Hartert, Novit. Zool., 5, 1898, p. 62 (Pelew); Bolau, Mitteil, Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, 1898, p. 69 (Palau); Finsch, Sammlung wissensch. Vorträge, 14 ser., 1900, p. 659 (Palau); Matschie, Journ. f. Ornith., 1901, p. 113 (Palau); Lister, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1911, p. 757 (Pelew).
Megapodius laperousii Ogilvie-Grant (part), Cat. Birds British Mus., 22, 1893, p. 460 (Pelew); Takastukasa and Kuroda, Tori, 1, 1915, p. 51 (Pelew); Kuroda, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 27, 1915, p. 390 (Pelew); idem, Dobutsu. Zasshi, 28, 1916, p. 69 (Pelew).
Megapodius laperousi Seale (part), Occ. Papers Bernice P. Bishop Mus., 1, 1901, p. 39 (Pelew); Safford (part), The Plant World, 7, 1904, p. 265 (Pelew); Uchida, Annot. Zool. Japon., 9, 1918, pp. 486, 487 (Palau).
Megapodius laperousii var. senex Dubois, Syn. Avium, 2, 1904, p. 787 (Pelew).
M[egapodius] lapeyrousei Reichenow (part), Die Vögel, 1, 1913, p. 273 (Palauinseln).
Megapodius laperousei senex Kuroda, in Momiyama, Birds Micronesia, 1922, p. 40 (Pelew).
Megapodius lapérouse senex Mathews, Syst. Avium Australasianarum, 1, 1927, p. 14 (Pelew); Takastukasa, Birds Nippon, vol. 1, pt. 1, 1932, p. 13, pl. 4, 5 (Pelew); Yamashina, Tori, 7, 1932, p. 412 (Ngesebus, Auror, Peliliu); Hand-list Japanese Birds, rev., 1932, p. 198 (Palau); Peters, Check-list Birds World, 2, 1934, p. 6 (Palau); Yamashina, Tori, 10, 1940, p. 679 (Gayangas, Arumidin); Amadon, Amer. Mus. Novit., no. 1175, 1942, p. 9 (Palau); Mayr, Birds Southwest Pacific, 1945, p. 286 (Palau); Baker, Smithson. Misc. Coll., vol. 107, no. 15, 1948, p. 46 (Garakayo, Peleliu, Ngabad).
Megapodius la pérouse senex Hand-list Japanese Birds, 3d ed., 1942, p. 223 (Babelthuap, Koror, Auror, Ngesebus, Peliliu, Gayangas, Arumidin).
Megapodius laperouse Wharton and Hardcastle, Journ. Parasitology, 32, 1946, p. 294 (Garakayo).
Geographic range.—Micronesia: Palau Islands—Babelthuap, Koror, Auror, Kayangel, Garakayo, Ngesebus, Peleliu, Ngabad, Gayangas, Arumidin.
Characters.—Adult: A small megapode with top of head near "mouse gray"; forehead, sides of face and neck, chin, and throat thinly covered with feathers of the same color; mantle and upper breast grayish-black becoming dark olive-brown on wings; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts dark brown; tail blackish-brown; underparts grayish-brown, lighter on midline of belly; under wings dark brown; exposed skin of head reddish to yellowish-red; bill yellowish, basally blackish; legs yellowish; feet and claws black; iris tan.
Measurements.—Measurements of three adult males: wing, 178, 182, 188; tail, 55, 63; culmen, 22.7, 23.3; tarsus, 55, 56, 57; of seven adult females: wing, 171-189 (182); tail, 46-68 (58); culmen, 25-30 (27); tarsus, 45-60 (55). Takatsukasa (1932:14) lists the following measurements: males—wing, 176-181; tail, 59-67; culmen, 25.5-26.0; tarsus, 58-61; females—wing, 177-187; tail, 62-68; culmen, 24.0-26.0; tarsus, 55-58.
Specimens examined.—Total number, 23 (11 males, 8 females, 4 unsexed), as follows: Palau Islands, USNM—Koror, 1 (Nov. 28)—Garakayo, 5 (Sept. 17, 18, 19)—Peleliu, 2 (Aug. 31, Sept. 1)—Ngabad, 1 (Sept. 11); AMNH—Palau, 16 (Nov., Dec., not dated).
Nesting.—The megapodes do not incubate their eggs, but the female deposits them in a moundlike structure of sand, volcanic ash, and forest litter or some other type of soil in which there is warmth sufficient to hatch the eggs after an extended period (perhaps 40 days or more) without further attention from the parent bird. The young dig out and lead an independent existence. Several megapodes may utilize one nest site, which ordinarily is at a low elevation near a beach or lagoon.
The NAMRU2 party obtained two downy chicks at Gayakayo Island on September 18 and 19, 1945. A female taken on September 1 at Peleliu contained large eggs. Coultas obtained two chicks (one in postnatal molt) in November and December, 1931. Kubary, as quoted by Takatsukasa (1932:15), says that eggs may be found in the mounds throughout the year at Palau but are found most numerously in the south-east monsoon (April to November). Yamashina (1932a:412) reports on eggs taken in 1932 as follows: eight eggs from Auror Island on January 15; one egg from Ngesebus Island on January 16; and four eggs from Peleliu Island on January 16. Takatsukasa (1932:15) states that eggs are most numerous in the mounds in the months of May and June. The chicks obtained by NAMRU2 in September were of such a size as to suggest that they too had been laid in June.
Takatsukasa (1932:15) comments, "Whilst Dr. Yaichir[=o] Okada was in the Pelew Group, he found two nests on Kajangel Island, which is an uninhabited island about twelve sea-miles southeast of the island of Malacal. He says that he found two nests, one of which was obsolete and the other was in use.
The first one was oval in shape; the diameter of the largest part was twenty-four feet, and the smallest part was twenty feet, and it had a height of four feet. The second one was fan-shaped, as an obstacle existed at one side of the nest, and its diameter was twelve feet and the height was a little more than four feet, and the native whom he asked to dig out the eggs got three. One of the eggs contained a well-advanced embryo and the others were not so advanced as the first one. This distance from the top of the mound to the spot where the eggs were laid was about two and a half feet, and the natives made a great deal of effort to get these eggs. These nests were found in the bush by the natives." The NAMRU2 party observed a mound on Ngabad Island, a small islet near Peleliu, on September 11. It was much like those described by Takatsukasa, being approximately six feet high and some twelve or fifteen feet across. It was not excavated.
Molt.—Birds taken in August, September and November were molting body feathers. Birds taken in December were molting wing feathers.
Food habits.—Takatsukasa (1932:16) comments, "My collector reports to me that this bird diets on insects and tender shoots which it gets from under the soil by scratching with its large and powerful feet." According to Captain Tetens, as noted by Takatsukasa, the food of the bird consists of insects and berries. Birds taken by the NAMRU2 party had the following food items in their stomachs: adult female—2 cc. seeds, grit; adult female—3 cc. crab parts, grit; adult female—2 cc. seeds, sand; male chick—1 cc. ground food, grit; female chick—1 cc. ground food, grit, in crop 3 cc. small wood roaches (Blattidae).
Parasites.—Wharton and Hardcastle (1946:294) obtained the chigger (Acarina), Neoschöngastia yeomansi, from the megapode at Palau. Uchida (1918:486, 487) found the bird lice (Mallophaga), Goniocotes minor and Lipeurus sinuatus, on megapodes from the Palaus.
Remarks.—The NAMRU2 party arrived at the Palau Islands on August 23, 1945, with little notion that the megapode would be found on the war-torn island of Peleliu. As reported by the author (1946b:209 and 1948:46) we found birds in small numbers in the relatively undisturbed areas of rough coral covered by jungle and a few birds in the heavy matting of viny and brushy vegetation which was rapidly covering the battlefields. The finding of a higher population on the more isolated and relatively undisturbed offshore islets (Ngabad, Garakayo) by the NAMRU2 party was an observation similar to those of Takatsukasa (1932:15, 16) and Coultas (field notes). Takatsukasa (1932:16) remarks, "Dr. Finsch said that this Megapode frequents nearly all the islands of the Pelew Group ... but it is very noticeable that this bird has either disappeared, or only very rarely exists in the following islands: Koror, Ngarekobasanga, and especially the main island of Babelthuap." He quotes Otto Finsch as remarking that, "It seems that the bird occasionally moves from one island to another, as the bird is a good flier." Takatsukasa continues, "According to Tetens, this Megapode runs very swiftly among the bushes, and when it is startled it takes to the nearest tree.... Captain Wilson says nothing about the Megapode, but Dr. Finsch wrote that Captain Wilson is probably referring to the egg of this bird under 'Wild Fowls,' when he said that the natives of the Palaus do not eat the flesh of the birds, but they go to the woods and bring back the eggs; they do not appreciate the newly laid eggs, but they consider it as a delicacy to swallow the well advanced embryo."
The NAMRU2 party found the birds to prefer rough, coral jungle where there was considerable heavy undergrowth and ground litter. The birds were located by their loud screeches and cackles but were difficult to stalk. It was best to remain quiet and let them approach within shooting distance. Young chicks were extremely active and wild. One of the two chicks taken at Garakayo was obtained by a fortunate shot as the bird was flying rapidly through the brush. The natives use them as food, and I learned of one serviceman who had worked out a technique for trapping the birds. He traded the live birds to the natives for island souvenirs. As Wilson and Takatsukasa note, the natives apparently prefer the eggs to the adults as food, and in normal times of food abundance they probably do not molest the adults but hunt for their eggs. This seems logical, since if a determined trapping program were in operation by the natives, it should not take many decades to eliminate completely the entire population. On four islands visited by the NAMRU2 party in August and September, 1945, I estimated the following populations: Garakayo—20 to 30; Ngabad—5 to 10; Peleliu—10 to 20; Angaur—less than 10.