After about 70 days of carefully controlled incubation beneath deep river sand, heated electrically from below, three rare maleo chicks have hatched at the Bronx Zoo.
The maleo is an endangered chickenlike bird with distinctive peach plumage, a red-orange beak and a black helmet or “casque.†The chicks join nine other maleos already inhabiting the World of Birds in the zoo, the only other place in the world where they can be seen outside the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo.
The chicks are “healthy and currently in an off-exhibit area of the zoo,†the society said in a news release.
Maleos belong to the megapode family, whose members rely on heat from sources other than their bodies to incubate their very large eggs. Invasive species, including humans who steal the eggs, have caused a sharp decline in the maleo population.
“Almost half of all megapode species are threatened with extinction,†said Dr. Nancy Clum, curator of ornithology at the 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.â€
Once the chicks emerge from their long incubation period, they may not look like adults, but they are able to fly, forage and regulate their body temperature without parental care.
We wish them well on their journey.
Julie Larsen Maher © WCS An adult maleo at the Bronx Zoo.