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Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) Alternate name(s): "Jungle Fowl", "Sooty Scrub Fowl" Aboriginal name(s): Race "castanotus": "jarruga" [ngadjon]; "koogerri" Size: 40-50 cm Weight: 0.55-1.2 kg

Australia: Family Group 1 Family Group 1 table Emu Southern Cassowary Malleefowl Orange-footed Scrubfowl Australian Brush-turkey Stubble Quail King Quail Brown Quail Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Orange-footed Scrubfowl are chicken-sized birds with basic flight skills. Their front, neck and lower head plumage is blueish-grey, while their mantle and wings, as well as their crowns, are brown. The name-giving legs and feet are orange in colour. Immature Orange-footed Scrubfowls have rufous edge-lining on their feathers, while juveniles have highly cryptic mottled grey plumage.

Taxonomy, classification See Orange-footed Scrubfowl at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of Orange-footed Scrubfowl is available HERE . Of the four races of Orange-footed Scrubfowl, three are endemic to the tropical coastline of the Australian continent. Race "tumulus" is found along the North coast of WA, from about Broome, WA, to the Drysdale River, and along the Top End of the NT, from the Victoria River to eastern Arnhem Land (including Groote Eylandt). Race "yorki" inhabits the northern half of Cape York peninsula and the North-East coast of QLD to about Tully, QLD. From South of Tully to about Yeppoon, QLD, race "castanotus" is found. They are not found anywhere more than about 100-200 km inland. Orange-footed Scrubfowl have a preference for rainforest and dense vegetation near water, but can also be found in urban parks.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "tumulus" Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "tumulus", were spotted by S. Kirkby on a private property about 45 km South of Darwin, NT, in August 2011. We first spotted Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "tumulus", in various locations in and around Darwin and other parts of the Top End, NT, in August 2014. Various contributors also report regularly sightings of Orange-footed Scrubfowl in and around Darwin. J. Greaves reports spotting Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "tumulus", at Alyangula, Groote Eylandt, NT, in September 2014, and also in Darwin, NT, in September 2016. Race "castanotus" D. Wilczynska reports spotting Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "castanotus", near Cairns, QLD, in March 2015. M. Eaton reports finding Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "castanotus", at Julatten, QLD, in July 2018, and at Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, and at Kingfisher Park, Julatten, QLD, in November 2018. M. Mearns found Orange-footed Scrubfowl, race "castanotus", at Carmila Beach, QLD, in September 2019.

Photos

Race "tumulus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Frontal view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl issuing its call (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, December 2017]

Near-frontal/ventral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl on its roost
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Lateral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl in mellow light (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lee Point, Darwin, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl up in a tree (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, June 2020]

Lateral/ventral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl on its roost
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Dorsal view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of an immature Orange-footed Scrubfowl "challenging" the photographer (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, May 2023]

Frontal view of an immature Orange-footed Scrubfowl; note how, while the entire body is in action when scratching, the head remains absolutely steady (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Darwin, NT, May 2023]

This appears to be a headless immature Orange-footed Scrubfowl; the hapless bird had fallen prey to a Grey Goshawk
(photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Botanical Gardens, Darwin, NT, May 2018]

Juvenile Orange-footed Scrubfowl in a suburban driveay, wandering "now how am I going to scrape all this stuff into a halfway decent mound?" (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Nakara, Darwin, NT, January 2022]

Frontal view of a juvenile Orange-footed Scrubfowl in leaf litter (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, October 2021]

Lateral view of a juvenile Orange-footed Scrubfowl in leaf litter (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Darwin, NT, October 2021]

Race "castanotus"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Julatten, QLD, July 2018]

Near-lateral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kingfisher Park, Julatten, QLD, November 2018]

Near-lateral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (photo courtesy of M. Mearns)
[Carmila, QLD, September 2019]

Lateral view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Cairns, QLD, March 2015]

Lateral & dorsal views of Orange-footed Scrubfowl (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Cattana Wetlands, Cairns, QLD, November 2018]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Sep - Feb

Eggs: up to 15

Incubation period: ca. 50 days

Fledging age: N/A

Nest building: Male (& female)

Incubation: N/A

Dependent care: N/A

Nest

"bungobittah", "lar", "malunna", "jindi" [bundjalung] = nest [Aboriginal]

Type: Mound

Material: Leaves, debris, soil

Height above ground: N/A

Orange-footed Scrubfowl have the largest nesting mounds of all Australian birds, up to 3 m high and up to 10 m in diameter, although usually about half as high and about 7 m across. Mostly the male maintains the nesting mound all year round. Once hatched, the chicks dig their way up through the debris of the mound and are independent and on their own right from the start.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl nesting mound at the start of the breeding season
[Fogg Dam NR, NT, August 2014]

Eggs

"boyanga", "booyanga", "derinya", "dirandil", "koomura", "mirk", "ngampu", "nooluk", "pateena", "pum-pum" = Egg; "dirundirri" = eggs [Aboriginal]; "gawu" = eggs [gamilaraay]

Size: 90 x 50 mm

Colour: Light-brown

Shape: Long elliptical

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Pair

Like Australian Brush-turkeys, male Orange-footed Scrubfowl are "obsessive-compulsive scratchers".

Orange-footed Scrubfowl are usually out and about at the crack of dawn, when one can best hear their strong calls
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Orange-footed Scrubfowl pairs defend their territory vigorously...
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

... which can at times lead to minor air crashes
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Food, Diet

Orange-footed Scrubfowl feed on seeds and fallen fruit, but also on invertebrates they find in and on the ground.

Frontal view of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl searching for food in loose soil under a tree
[Darwin, NT, August 2014]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

ofsfowl_20140820.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Contact call(?)	© MD
ofsfowl_20140820_2.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Pair Q&A	© MD
ofsfowl_20140820_3.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Pair Q&A	© MD
ofsfowl_20140816.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Territorial call? (crack of dawn)	© MD
ofsfowl_20140818.m4a	tumulus (Pine Creek, NT)	Territorial dispute?	© MD
ofsfowl_20140816_2.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Pair Q&A (crack of dawn)	© MD
ofsfowl_pb_20230521.mp3	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	Alarm (pursued by Brown Goshawk)	© PB
ofsfowl_pb_20200415.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	? (after sunset)	© PB
ofsfowl_pb_20180524.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	?	© PB
ofsfowl_pb_20191023.m4a	tumulus (Darwin, NT)	?	© PB
ofsfowl_mm_20190915_2.m4a	castanotus (Carmila Beach, QLD)	Territorial calls?	© MM
ofsfowl_mm_20190915.m4a	castanotus (Carmila Beach, QLD)	?	© MM
wonga_mm_20190915_bkgd.m4a	castanotus (Carmila Beach, QLD)	? (with Wonga Pigeon)	© MM

More Orange-footed Scrubfowl sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.

Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Wed, 7 June 2023, 2:45 +00:00