Noble megapode Fiji. The bird’s flightlessness is evident in its large body size, the extreme reduction of pectoral girdle elements and the loss of a keel on the sternum. The size and proportions of the bill are unlike those of any living fowl and, with a depth of 28% of the length, extraordinarily deep compared to modern galliforms. Worthy speculates that it was used for cracking the hard seeds of large forest fruits; there are several tropical forest trees native to Fiji producing hard seeds that cannot be cracked by any living birds or bats in the islands. Noble megapode The noble
Nicobar megapode Nicobar megapode The Nicobar megapode or Nicobar scrubfowl ("Megapodius nicobariensis") is a megapode found in some of the Nicobar Islands (India). Like other megapode relatives, it builds a large mound nest with soil and vegetation, with the eggs hatched by the heat produced by decomposition. Newly hatched chicks climb out of the loose soil of the mound and being fully feathered are capable of flight. The Nicobar Islands are on the edge of the distribution of megapodes, well separated from the nearest ranges of other megapode species. Being restricted to small islands and threatened by hunting, the species is vulnerable