• 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
-	-	D1+2

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2019	Vulnerable	D1+2
2017	Endangered	B1ab(v)+2ab(v)
2016	Endangered	B1ab(v)
2012	Endangered	B1ab(v)
2008	Endangered	B1a+b(v)
2004	Endangered
2000	Critically Endangered
1996	Endangered
1994	Endangered
1988	Threatened

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

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	1,800 km2	medium
Area of Occupancy (breeding/resident)	104 km2
Number of locations	2	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	250-999 mature individuals	medium	estimated	2016
Population trend	increasing	poor	suspected	1998-2008
Generation length	4 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	2	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	1-89%	-	-	-

Population justification:

In the most comprehensive and robust population study on Niuafo’ou, Göth and Vogel (1995) used playback to estimate the global population to be 188-235 pairs. More recent surveys have only been brief and used different methods but only located 28-53+ birds (Butler 2014). Göth and Vogel (1995) recorded 187+ active burrows, but only 33 were found in 2012 (MLECCNR 2012) and 44 in 2014 (Butler 2014). On Fonualei Island, Watling (2004) recorded a minimum of 38 individuals, and estimated a population of 300-500. In 2012, Butler (2013) observed that birds were also abundant at another site in the north of the island, and estimated a population of 600-1000, assuming that all apparently suitable habitat had been occupied. Watling (2004) and (Butler 2013) recorded no birds on Late. Thus the population size may be best placed in the range 250-999 mature individuals (G. Dutson in litt. 2016).

Trend justification: The overall population trend is tentatively considered to be increasing, as a result of estimated increases of the reintroduced population on Fonualei (Watling 2004, Butler 2013), despite the reported declines on Niuafo'ou (Goeth unpublished data, in Tilmouth 2010, Lloyd et al. 2011).

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

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Tonga	Fonualei
Tonga	Niuafo'ou

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	major	resident
Marine Intertidal	Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc	suitable	breeding
Wetlands (inland)	Geothermal Wetlands	marginal	resident
Altitude	0 - 50 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Hunting & trapping terrestrial animals - Intentional use (species is the target)	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		No decline		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Climate change & severe weather	Habitat shifting & alteration	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Indirect ecosystem effects, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success
Geological events	Volcanoes	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Past, Likely to Return		Majority (50-90%)		Rapid Declines		Past Impact
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Canis familiaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		No decline		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Felis catus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		No decline		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sus domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		No decline		Low Impact: 4
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Tongan Scrubfowl Megapodius pritchardii. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tongan-scrubfowl-megapodius-pritchardii on 26/12/2024.
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 26/12/2024.