The maleo is a rare bird native only on the small
Indonesian island Sulawesi . The bird is a
member of the megapode family, medium-sized chicken-like birds found near Australia and New Guinea
The three chicks were described by the Wildlife Conservation
Society as “healthy and currently in an off-exhibit area of the zoo” in a news
release. The Society manages the Bronx Zoo, including its “World of Birds”
exhibit, where the young maleos will live.
Megapodes are also known for their strange, complex
nesting behaviors. The birds built large thermal nest-mounds where they bury
their eggs. At the bottom of some mounds, below the eggs, the birds pile
rotting compost that heats and incubates their egg-bound young. They then cover
the eggs and decaying vegetation in insulating sand. Others incubate their eggs
using the sun’s heat, geothermal energy, or volcanic soil. Maleos are known for
their reddish-orange beak, peach breasts and the bizarre black helmet “casque”
that sits atop their head.
Maleo chicks are not fully grown when they emerge from
their incubation mound, but are able to fly, regulate body temperature by
themselves, and forage for food.
“Almost half of all megapode species are threatened with
extinction,” Dr. Nancy Clum told the New York Times. Clum is curator of ornithology at the Bronx
Zoo. “The work we do with maleos both at the zoo and in the field can provide a
model for conservation of other megapode species.”
Maleo numbers are dropping because of invasive species and
humans stealing their eggs. Currently, outside of Sulawesi ,
the only maleos on the planet reside at the Bronx Zoo, where the three chicks
will join nine other Maleos.
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