Birds in this family bury their eggs in soil and incubate them using natural heat sources.
The female essentially walks away after laying eggs.
The male stays behind adding or removing litter covering the eggs to adjust the temperature.
Megapode hatchlings are super precocious.
They hatch fully feathered and already able to fly.
They dig themselves out of their burrows and within hours of birth start foraging their own food.
The megapodes do not take care of their kids or feed them.
This is very unusual among birds.
Megapode eggs are a delicacy among the inhabitants of these islands.
The island is volcanic and there are many hot springs and hot mud lakes here.
The soil is naturally warm.
Photo credit:SIBC
The birds come down at dawn or at night to lay the eggs.
In the morning villagers come down to the fields andstart diggingfor the eggs with a flat piece of wood.
But once they have made a hole about 18 inches deep, the wooden spade is discarded.
There was a time when Savo had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of eggs.
But overharvesting has dramatically reduced the number of birds on the island and the supply of eggs.
