• 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
2021	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/Near Threatened
1988	Near Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	2,050,000 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	poor	suspected	2009
Population trend	decreasing	-	suspected	-
Generation length	8 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	7-15	-	-	-

Population justification: Population densities on Palawan were similar across a broad range of habitat, lowest in early secondary growth but at the same abundance in cultivation as in advanced secondary growth (0.5 individuals/km², and only marginally higher in old growth forest (0.8 individuals/km²) (Mallari et al. 2011). The species is also observed in forest agriculture elsewhere in range, such as on Sangihe (Riley 1997). Much higher densities in protected areas in Sulawesi have been recorded, 6.2 individuals/km² in Tangkoko/DuaSudara National Park, where the population was estimated to have doubled between 1979 and 1994 (O'Brien and Kinnaird 1996). However, in Sulawesi there was a clear preference for closed-canopy forest for the location of nesting mounds (Sinclair et al. 2002), suggesting that loss of forest cover is expected to reduce populations. In many breeding areas in the Philippines numbers may be heavily suppressed by egg-collecting, e.g. on Carnaza island near Cebu (Paguntalan 2004). In northern Borneo, on both mainland Sabah and islands off the north coast, the population is believed to have declined considerably due to exploitation over the past few decades (Elliot and Kirwan 2020). However, given the extensive distribution in which the species is still frequently recorded and can be locally common, the population is not believed to approach the thresholds for listing as threatened. A range-wide population estimate is needed.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be declining owing to habitat destruction, egg collecting, hunting and trapping (del Hoyo et al. 1994; Elliot and Kirwan 2020). The revised National List of Threatened Species of the Philippines (Gonzalez et al. 2018) considers that the status in the Philippines is likely to be Vulnerable, however this is not based on the IUCN Red List Guidelines and is driven by a score of 3 for threats, classed as 'extreme'. However, scores for population based threat were low, 1 out of a scale from 0-3 where 0 is stable or increasing, suggesting a slow rather than rapid population decline. Declines elsewhere have also been reported but are not quantified: in northern Borneo there are now few records and it is apparently now rare on some islands, but the species does continue to be present and reported from many sites (eBird 2021).

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Indonesia	extant	native	yes
Malaysia	extant	native	yes
Philippines	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level	marginal	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	breeding
Marine Intertidal	Shingle and/or Pebble Shoreline and/or Beaches	suitable	breeding
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	marginal	resident
Altitude	0 - 2100 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Agriculture & aquaculture	Annual & perennial non-timber crops - Agro-industry farming	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Negligible declines		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Philippine Scrubfowl Megapodius cumingii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/philippine-scrubfowl-megapodius-cumingii on 20/12/2024.
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 20/12/2024.