Crossword clues for megapode
The Collaborative International Dictionary
moundbird \moundbird\, mound bird \mound bird\n. (Zo["o]l.) Any of several large-footed short-winged birds of Australasia, which build mounds of decaying vegetation to incubate eggs. Called also mound builder, mound maker, megapode, brush turkey, and scrub fowl.
Syn: megapode, mound builder, scrub fowl, brush turkey.
WordNet
n. large-footed short-winged birds of Australasia; build mounds of decaying vegetation to incubate eggs [syn: mound bird, mound-bird, mound builder, scrub fowl]
Wikipedia
The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" ( Greek: mega = large, poda = foot), and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all but the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black colored. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any birds. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and, in some species, fly on the same day they hatch.
Usage examples of "megapode".
It's a very neat and sexy program with all sorts of pop-up menus and things, and the advantage of doing it the way I have is that on any future occasion on which I need to know the volume of a megapode nest, given its basic dimensions, my computer will give me the answer in less than a second, which is a wonderful saving of time.
The downside, I suppose, is that I cannot conceive of any future occasion that I am likely to need to know the volume of a megapode nest, but no matter: the volume of this mound is a little over nine cubic yards.
By judicious additions or subtractions of material from the mound the megapode is able to keep it at the precise temperature which the eggs require in order to incubate properly.