NELL  is Specializing at :  Birds-Watching Experience Tours & Rainforest Adventure Tours.  Itinerary : ( code: NT- BWE 01 )   Day 01 : Singapore - Manado  Day 02:  Drive to Tangkoko  Day 03:  All day Birding in Tangkoko  Day 04:  All day Birding in Tangkoko  Day 05:  Drive to Warta Bone  Day 06:  All day Birding in Warta Bone  Day 07:  All day Warta Bone  Day 08:  Warta Bone - Tambun ( Maleo trip )  Day 09:  Drive to Tomohon  Day 10:  Drive Tomohon - Manado  Day 11:  Fly Manado - Ternate. Ferry to Halmahera  Day 12:  All day birding in Halmahera  Day 13:  All day Halmahera  Day 14:  Halmahera - Ternate - Manado  Day 15:  Manado - Out  Optinal Tours :   - Minahasa Highland Tour Package   - Bunaken island Package Tour   - Mahawu Trekking & hiking     Pricing ,  Booking & Query, please Contact us at : nelltours@upg.mega.net.id

Maleo ( Macrocephalon Maleo ) We are one of the Indonesian Leading Tour Operators and specialize in Wildlife and Adventures trips throughout Sulawesi Island. We can help design the trips for you according to your age, capability, point of interest and any trips that meet your ideas and requirement Please visit our homepage at :        http://travel.to/eastindonesia Or, you can cantact me through our e-mail at : nelltours@upg.mega.net.id

Birds :  For the scientific names see the list of species of Sulawesi 

Maleo: 15 - 20 birds at the breeding site. Sulawesi Hornbill: endemic species, 7 birds seen. Sulawesi Kingfisher: Only one bird was seen. Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher: 4 birds where seen. Black-billed Kingfisher: 1 bird only. Ochre-bellied Hawk-Owl: 2 where seen. Speckled Hawk-Owl: 4 birds. Maroon-chinned Fruit-Dove: 1 male. Isabelline Waterhen: 5 records. Lesser Fish-Eagle: 2 birds where seen. Spot-tailed Goshawk: only 1. Rufous Night-Heron: 4 birds recorded. Red-bellied Pitta: 5 birds.

This is a large and remote National Park where you can find a lot of endemic species. The observations are made by Bertus de Lange (Netherlands) between 13 and 18 August 1996.

 Birds  :    For the scientific names see the list of species of Sulawesi 

Knobbed Hornbill: more than 100 where seen. Purple-winged Roller: 1 was recorded. Purple-bearded Bee-eater: 2 birds. Black-billed Koel: about 10 birds. Yellow-billed Malkoha: more than 15 birds. Ornate Lorikeet: over 20 birds. Yellow-and-green Lorikeet: about 15 birds. Sulawesi Hanging-Parrot: 4 birds where seen. Red-billed Hanging-Parrot: 2 birds. Purple Needletail: over 50 birds. Sulawesi Scops-Owl: 1 was seen, more birds where heard calling. White-faced Cuckoo-Dove: 1 bird. Red-eared Fruit-Dove: 2 birds. White-bellied Imperial-Pigeon: fairly common. Grey-headed Imperial-Pigeon: fairly common. Green Imperial-Pigeon: fairly common. Barred Honey-buzzard: about 5 birds where seen. Sulawesi Serpent-Eagle: 3 birds. Sulawesi Goshawk: 1 juvenile was recorded. Sulawesi Hawk-Eagle: 5 birds. Dark-eared Myza: 2 birds. White-eared Myza: more than 10 birds. Piping Crow: about 40 birds. Ivory-backed Woodswallow: 5 birds. Sulawesi Cicadabird: about 5 birds. Geomalia: 1 bird was seen, this species is extremely rare! Great Shortwing: 5 birds. Sulawesi Myna: 5 birds. White-necked Myna: more than 10 birds where seen. Fiery-browed Myna: fairly common. Finch-billed Myna: more than 30 birds. Malia: about 15 birds recorded.

 

The Maleo ( Marcrocephalon Maleo )  is an endemic bird from Sulawesi Island, it can be only found in North, Central and South Sulawesi. Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park ( Dumoga Bone National Park ) is one of its place. Local people describe the Male as a bird with big eggs.

The color of its body is black and white, seen from side, the beak and fore head is straight, while the back-head is sticks out and round. Its has a web between the fingers. Nowadays, the population of the maleo birds is striking-rapidly threatened by people viling around the national
park.

The local people used to collect maleo eggs for a traditional ceremony. Meanwhile, this situation changed and they use maleo's egg as mainly delicious food. Recent peoples near the park border
significantly increased the egg collections.

Taxonomy
class    : Aves                         Ordo   : Galiformes
Family  : Megapodidae            Genus  : Macrocephalon
 

PHISICAL  CHARACTERISTIC

Maleo has a reddish-orange beak. The color of the thorax feather is reddish-white and the other part of the body is black. The leg has four fingers and between in a web or membrane. The toenail is rather long and has sharpp claw.

Pysical size
beak          : 3.5   cm             wide of eye       : 15 cm
crest         : 3.0   cm             ne ck                   : 17.0 cm
body         : 19.5  cm             leg                     : 21.0 cm
weight       : 1.5   kg              wing                   : 20.0 cm

Egg
length    : 9.0 cm                    diameter            : 6.0 cm
max. weight : ± 280.0 gr      min. weight : 190.0 gr
yolk       :  &177 75 %            volume  : 5 times bigger then the egg of local hen.
albumen :  &177 25 %

HABITAT

Maleo can be found in hot spring water areas, which are preferr ed for nest making. There are seven places of maleo birds in Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park ( Dumoga Bone National Park ) ; Ta mbun, matayangan, Muara Pusian, Leda-Leda, Pohulongo, Pinomonue and Hungayono.
Outside of the park there are also several places and the maleo can even be found in coastal area. Maleo birds feed within a distance of 20 km around its nesting area. Maleo birds which
were tagged in Matayangan ( 1986 ) were nesting in Tambun ( 1991 ). The distance of these two
places is ± 25 km.

BEHAVIOUR

In general maleo birds are similar with other aves. There are some differencies such as ; maleo
could not fly far away . They just fly from one tree to another.

Maleo birds make a nest by digging a hole in sandy ground around hot springs or in coral ground.
Together, male and female dig the hole by take in turn. According to the studies of this birds, every pair digs nesting hole in different depth depending on the appropriate temperature. The deepest hole is around 1.5 metres. Commonly, temperature, where maleo lays their eggs, is around
  -  35  ^{Celcius . Each hole contains one egg. They lay the egg in vertical way which the sharp}
size to the buttom. At the last part of the nesting process, maleo birds close again the hole with sand. Then they leave the egg without breeding it. The breeding season last from October to April. The female products about 15 eggs per a year. The egg need 60 - 80 days for hatch. There is an unique behaviour  of baby maleo in the hatching process.

The chicks cratch the sand to dig themselves out to the surface.According to scientific reseach,
the chicks need one day for creeping out from the bottom of the hole, and then they take a rest
for 5 minutes before being able to fly around for about 15 metres. This is the time for a chick to struggle in  a new life in the forest.

FOOD

Maleo eats cereal, insect, also worms and snails. Based on reseach in the Dumoga Bone National Park, the chicks could be domesticated and feeded on corn, beans and peanuts.

PREDATOR

Predator that hazard the population of maleo's birds are lizards, dogs and eagles. Egg collection by the local population in  threatening the birds much more than its natural predators.

 This page has been visited  time, since Feb'97

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