megapode

Any of a group of chickenlike birds found in the Malay Archipelago and Australia. They pile up large mounds of vegetable matter, earth, and sand 4 m/13 ft across, in which to deposit their eggs, then cover the eggs and leave them to be incubated by the heat produced by the rotting vegetation. There are 19 species, all large birds, 50-70 cm/20-27.5 in in length, with very large feet. They include brush turkeys. (Family Megapodiidae, order Galliformes.)

In some species the male bird feels the mound with his tongue and adds or takes away vegetation to provide the correct temperature.