3 min learnNew DelhiJul 8, 2026 08:00 PM IST
When most birds predict chicks, they construct a nest, lay their eggs and spend days—and even weeks—retaining them heat. However the Maleo, a uncommon hen discovered solely on Indonesia’s island of Sulawesi, has taken a totally completely different method. As a substitute of sitting on its eggs, it buries them in heat soil round volcanic areas and lets geothermal warmth do the incubation.
A volcano turns into the nursery
The Maleo is determined by naturally heated floor created by volcanic exercise. Breeding pairs journey to particular nesting websites the place the Earth is warmed from under by geothermal power.
There, they dig a deep pit—typically round a metre (3 toes) deep—lay a single huge egg, fastidiously cowl it with soil, and go away. The fixed heat from the volcanic floor retains the egg on the proper temperature till it hatches.
Their eggs are surprisingly giant
A Maleo lays one of many largest eggs of any hen relative to its physique measurement. Every egg can weigh about 240–270 grams, which is roughly 5 instances heavier than a rooster egg.
The outsized egg is full of vitamins, giving the growing chick sufficient power to develop with none parental care after hatching.
Chicks are on their very own from day one
As soon as the chick has totally developed, it breaks out of the egg underground and digs its solution to the floor totally by itself.
There aren’t any dad and mom ready close by. Inside hours, the younger hen can stroll and run, making it one of the impartial new child birds on the earth.
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A dangerous technique
Counting on volcanic areas has labored for the Maleo for hundreds of years, nevertheless it additionally has drawbacks.
The birds should return to a restricted variety of geothermal nesting grounds, making them susceptible to habitat loss, human disturbance and egg assortment. As forests disappear and nesting websites are disturbed, Maleo numbers have declined sharply, and the species is now categorised as Endangered.
A exceptional partnership with nature
Geothermal warmth retains the sand at a super incubation temperature for the eggs (Picture: Wikimedia Commons)
The Maleo is among the only a few birds that makes use of the Earth’s personal geothermal power to incubate its eggs. By turning heat floor round volcanic areas right into a pure incubator, it has advanced one of the uncommon breeding methods within the animal kingdom.
