Nicobar megapode and Megapode Island. The species may have occurred on Car Nicobar in the early 1900s. A survey after the 2004 tsunami however indicated that the species had been extirpated on the islands of Trax and Megapode. The eggs as well as adults are sought after by natives for food and birds may have been transported across islands. The 19th century ornithologist Allan Octavian Hume considered the taste of the meat as being between that of a "fat Norfolk turkey and a fat Norfolk pheasant". The Nicobar megapodes are secretive in their habits. During the day, they move around in thick
Nicobar megapode of the dusky megapode ("Megapodius freycinet"). The exact island from which the original type specimen came was not known and a later specimen from Trinkat Island, described as "Megapodius trinkutensis" is now considered to be indistinguishable from the nominate subspecies. In 1901, W L Abbott collected specimens from Little Nicobar which were described in 1919 by H C Oberholser as a new subspecies "abbotti", distinguished by its darker brown plumage. The species is found only in the Nicobar Islands. This range is so well separated from the main megapode distribution (especially of the genus "Megapodius") that in 1911, it was