megapode
noun, adjective
Forms megapodes
- noun Any of several chicken- or turkey-like birds in the family Megapodiidae, which incubate their eggs by burying them where they receive warmth from decaying vegetation, solar radiation or geothermal heat.
- adjective Characteristic of the Megapodiidae.
Synonyms
brush-turkey incubator bird moundbird mound-builder scrubfowl mound bird mound-bird mound builder scrub fowl
Etymology
From mega- + -pode, after scientific Latin Megapodius (genus name).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of several species of large-footed, gallinaceous birds of the genera Megapodius and Leipoa, inhabiting Australia and other Pacific islands. See Jungle fowl (b) under Jungle, and Leipoa.
Etymology [Mega- + Gr. poy`s, podo`s, foot.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “megapode”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details