Megapodius cumingii
Silhouette: Rachel T Mason · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Philippine megapode (Megapodius cumingii), also known as the Philippine scrubfowl or the Tabon scrubfowl, is a species of bird in the family Megapodiidae. It is found in the Philippines, northeastern Borneo, and Sulawesi. It has a wide range of natural habitats which include tropical dry forest, tropical moist lowland forest, tropical moist montane forest and small islands. The species was named after the collector Hugh Cuming.
It was formerly conspecific with the Dusky megapode but is differentiated with a lighter brown plummage and legs and with prominent red facial skin. Seven subspecies are recognized: M. c.cumingii – Found on Palawan and small islands North of Borneo
M. c.dillwyni – Found on Luzon, Mindoro, Marinduque and proximate islands M. c.pusillus – Found on Masbate, Cebu, Negros, Bohol and West Mindanao M. c.tabon – Found on East Mindanao M. c.gilbertii – Found on Sulawesi and Togian Islands
M. c.talautensis – Found on Talaud Islands M. c.sanghirensis – Found on Sangihe Islands Feeds on insects, mostly larvae, beetles, termites, worms and snails. Also known to eat fallen fruits and seeds. Has... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tangkoko Nature Reserve | 🇮🇩 Indonesia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Tabon Scrubfowl sighting in Tangkoko Nature Reserve on a given day, based on 429 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 21st most-seen of the 138 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Tabon Scrubfowl in Tangkoko Nature Reserve on a given day, against about 20% in January, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tabon Scrubfowl sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Tangkoko Nature Reserve, in our data
Tangkoko Nature Reserve is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Tabon Scrubfowl sightings: about 40% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tabon Scrubfowl is recorded against all the birds logged in Tangkoko Nature Reserve (429 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.
