Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species has a very large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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).
The species occurs throughout the Philippines south to Sulawesi including Talaud and at least coastal East Kalimantan (Derawan Islands), Indonesia, and Sabah, Malaysia (Jones et al. 1995; Kennedy 2000; Allen et al. 2006; Elliot and Kirwan 2020). It is suspected to have become extinct on Labuan Island, Sabah (Jones et al. 1995).
It occurs from near sea level in parts of the range to at least 2,100 m (Jones et al. 1995).
Egg collection is known to have been intense in parts of the range and is suggested to be the driver for an apparent significant decline on mainland Borneo in Sabah and on islands off the north coast (Elliot and Kirwan 2020). Trapping and egg-collection are also thought to have caused declines in Sulawesi, and it is possible that increased densities observed in Tangkoko-DuaSudara National Park (O'Brien and Kinnaird 1995) may have been partly a response to habitat loss and increased trapping in the adjacent Batuangus section of the protected area, where the species has declined (Elliot and Kirwan 2020). Habitat loss due to conversion of forest for agriculture has the potential to drive declines, although the species appears to be resilient among megapodes and able to persist in degraded habitat if not subject to high hunting pressure.
Text account compilers
Martin, R.
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.