Tongan Megapode
The Tongan Megapode (Megapodius pritchardii) is a species of bird in the megapode family Megapodiidae, currently endemic to Tonga. The species is also known as the Polynesian Megapode, and as the Niuafo'ou Megapode after the island of Niuafo'ou to which it was restricted for many years. The specific epithet honours British consul William Thomas Pritchard.
Distribution and habitat
The Tongan Megapode is the only remaining species of megapode in Tonga out of the four or five species that were present on the islands in prehuman times (as shown through the fossil record), and indeed the only species of megapode that survives in Polynesia. Similar extinctions occurred in Fiji and New Caledonia, which apparently had three species in prehistory. The species itself once had a more widespread distribution, occurring across most of Tonga, Samoa and Niue. The cause of all these extinctions and declines was the arrival of humans on the islands, and the associated predation on adults and particularly eggs, as well as predation by introduced species.
