Dusky megapode

The dusky megapode (Megapodius freycinet), also known as dusky scrubfowl or common megapode, is a medium-sized, about 41 cm (16 in) long, blackish bird. It has a short pointed crest, bare red skin on its face, dark legs, brown irises, and a dark brown and yellow bill. Males and females look alike. This terrestrial bird lives in forests and swamps, including mangroves, in the Maluku and Raja Ampat Islands in Indonesia.

Like other megapodes, the dusky megapode does not sit on its eggs. Instead, it lays them in a special mound made from earth mixed with leaves, sand, gravel, and sticks. These mounds can be very large, up to 11 m (36 ft) wide and nearly 5 m (16 ft) tall. The heat from the decaying material in the mound helps the eggs hatch.

The dusky scrubfowl is considered fairly common in many places where it lives. It is evaluated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, meaning it is not in immediate danger. The bird's name honors the French explorer Louis Claude Desaulses de Freycinet, who helped study this bird.