This megapode is a stocky grey-brown ground bird with large feet. It forages through forest leaf litter and may gather near communal nesting grounds warmed by volcanic heat or decomposing vegetation.
It has a stocky grey-brown body, large feet, a thin neck, and a slight crest. Females are described as slightly brighter and browner.
Melanesian Megapodes at Cape Hoskins, New Britain, lay eggs in burrows heated by volcanic ground. Chicks develop using heat from below rather than beneath a parent’s feathers.
In July 1962, Wolff measured one burrow: the air was 31°C, soil at the egg about 1.2 m down was 36°C, and soil 15 cm deeper was 37°C. The egg lay in ground warmer than the outside air.
The surrounding forest contained hot springs and steaming fissures, and many burrows penetrated soft volcanic soil. Forest and underground heat together formed this nesting setting.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
A 1984 West New Britain study identified lowland rainforest as the principal foraging habitat. Heavy logging, disturbance near breeding grounds and possible egg overharvesting were conservation concerns.