Megapodius reinwardt
Silhouette: Rachel T Mason · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The orange-footed scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt), also known as orange-footed megapode or just scrubfowl, is a small megapode of the family Megapodiidae native to many islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands as well as southern New Guinea and northern Australia.
It is a terrestrial bird the size of a domestic chicken and dark-coloured with strong orange legs and a pointed crest at the back of the head. It utilises a range of forest and scrub habitats and has colonised many small islands throughout its range. It is prolific in suburban Darwin gardens, where people refer to it as a bush chook, bush chicken, bush turkey, or most commonly, the bush boiby
In general, populations seem to be stable and the conservation status of the species is considered to be of Least Concern. The orange-footed scrubfowl feeds on seeds, fallen fruit and terrestrial invertebrates. As with other megapodes, it nests in large mounds of sand, leaf litter and other debris where the heat generated by the decomposition of organic material serves to incubate the eggs. Construction and maintenance of the mounds, which may reach 4.5 m (15 ft) in height... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Litchfield National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Kakadu National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-footed Scrubfowl sighting in Kakadu National Park on a given day, based on 332 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 69th most-seen of the 186 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-footed Scrubfowl in Kakadu National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April and December, the lowest months. That is one of Kakadu National Park's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain against almost none in August. February has too few records to rate.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-footed Scrubfowl sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Orange-footed Scrubfowl sightings, Kakadu National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Komodo National Park (Indonesia, about 80%), Daintree National Park (Australia, about 60%) and Litchfield National Park (Australia, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-footed Scrubfowl is recorded against all the birds logged in Kakadu National Park (332 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
