Maleo Birds (Macrocephalon maleo)

Maleo birds
The maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) is a member of small family of mound builders, or incubator birds (megapodiidae), which with one exception is confined to eastern Indonesia, new Guinea, Australia and Polynesia. The maleo itself, however, is found only in north, central and southweast Celebes. It is about the size of a domestic hen, weighing around 1,6 kg (Guillemard 1889), with striking black and rose-white plumage, an erect tail, and a head with a bare, helmeted cranium which may serve to keep the brain cool when it is on hot beaches 9watling 1983).

The bill is pale green and red at the base. Maleo are primarily inhabitants of forest, but only lay eggs where the ground is sufficiently hot for incubation-that is near hat springs (Wiriosoepartho 1979), near volcanic vents, or on sandy beaches. The megapodes and the Egyptian plover (Pluvianus aegyptius) are the only living birds which do not use the heat of their own for incubation.

Pairs arrive at a nesting area the night before eggs are laid. The following morning, amid much duck-like quacking and turkey-like gobbing, the birds examine holes and make trial digs. When a suitable spot is found, both male and female start digging, throwing earth or sand behind them using their strong legs and claws. The toes are slightly webbed at the base which must help when scratching away loose sand (Wallace 1869). As the hole becomes cleeper, so the birds take it in turns to dig and drive away other maleos that venture too close.

This digging can take over three hours, particularly where the sand is loose, after which the female lays her enormous egg, 11 cm long and 240-270 egg g in weight (Guillemard 1889), in the bottom of the pit. Subsequent eggs are laid and is lengthened by the digging of false pits near the real one to divert predators such as monitor lizard and pigs. Against human who value maleo eggs as a delicacy, however, these precautions are of little use. During the nesting period the maleos seek food such as figs, and fruit of macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) and Dracontomelum (Anacardiaceae) in the beach forest and roost primarily in Casuarina (Casuarinaceae) trees (Wiriosoepartho 1980).

The Best Place to Watch Shorebirds in Celebes Coast

The best place to watch shorebirds in Celebes Coast.

In addition to the waders, other common large birds of the coast include the white-bellied sea eagle (Heliacetus leucogaster), the osprey (Pandion haliatus) and Brahminy kite (Haliastur Indus) all of which fish in the shallow waters and scavenge food along undisturbed beaches. There also various stork, herons, egrets and ducks seen around the shore and roosting sites for seeing these birds (Uttley 1986). The milky stork (Ibis cinereus) is of particular interest because until a few years ago it was though to be quite rare. Large numbers have now been found in Sumatra (Silvins et al. 1985) and they have also been observed, some in breeding plumage, in the Tiworo straits between Muna island and the mainland of southeast Celebes (L. Clayton pers. Comm..), near Ujungpandang and in the Cenrara River delta (Uttley 1986).


Such fish-eating birds might occasionally encounter venomous sea snakes in the shallow waters of mudflats. One species, the yellow-bellied sea snake (Pelamis platurus), is the most widely distributed species of snake, being found from south Siberia to Tasmania, and from the west coast of America to the Indian Ocean. It is about I m long and is often found near the water surface and eats mainly rabbitfish and mulletlike fish (voris and voris 1983). Young, hand-reared with and without their tails. The tails of sea snakes are very distinctive. The birds were most frightened by the yellow-bellied sea snake, even if its tail had been removed. This indicates a genetically-based response; they could not have learned that the snake was dangerous from experience (Caldwell and Rubinoff 1983).

Bibliography
Grant, . 1984. sediment microtopography and shorebird foranging. Mar. ecol. Prog.

Barnard, C.J. and Thompson, D.B.A. 1985. Gulls and Plovers: the ecology of mixed species feeding groups. London Croom Helm.

Uttley, J. 1986. survey of Sulawesi Selatan to asses the status of wetlands and to identify key sites for breeding and migratory waterbirds. Preliminary report, Kuala Lumpur

Voris, H.K. and voris, H.h. 1983. Feedign strategies in marine snakes : an analysis of evolutionary, morphological, behavioural and ecological relationships. Amer. Zool.

Caldwell, G.S. and Rubinoff, R.W. 1983. Avoidance of venomeous sea snakes by naïve herons and egrets . Auk 100: 195-198