Tabon Bird Spotted at Nogas Island

A pair of Tabon bird was spotted during a visit in Nogas Island, a naval reserve and marine sanctuary off the coast of Poblacion, Anini-y, Antique.

The tabon scrubfowl (Megapodius cumingii), to the bird watchers, is found throughout the Philippines. They inhabit beach type and mangrove forests which is very Nogas Island. It is known as a megapode, meaning big feet. It is said that in Anini-y they were called tabon birds for they cover their nests with leaves, sand, etc. "Tabon" means cover in kinray-a, the language in Antique.

According to an article from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the tabon is frequent in the nesting area during the early morning than in the late afternoon of the day. Most of the time, they were sighted to approach the nest singly, in pairs and seldom in threes.

The Tabon bird looked like this:

*The picture was not from that visit.

The tabon bird was declared an endangered species in 1993 in the province of Palawan.