• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2018	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Least Concern
2009	Least Concern
2008	Least Concern
2004	Least Concern
2000	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994	Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988	Lower Risk/Least Concern

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	high
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	863,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	6700-670000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2009
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	4 years	-	-	-

Trend justification: The population is declining owing to intensive egg collection, soil erosion, predation by feral dogs, consumption and unearthing of eggs by feral pigs and habitat destruction caused by growth of the timber industry. Stochastic events such as cyclones have also had an impact on breeding and foraging grounds (del Hoyo et al. 1994).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Papua New Guinea	extant	native		yes
Solomon Islands	extant	native		yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Solomon Islands	East Makira
Solomon Islands	Gizo
Solomon Islands	Mount Maetambe - Kolombangara River

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	marginal	resident
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	major	breeding
Altitude	0 - 1500 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Melanesian Scrubfowl Megapodius eremita. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/melanesian-scrubfowl-megapodius-eremita on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.