Like other megapode relatives, it builds a large mound nest with soil and vegetation, with the eggs hatched by the heat produced by decomposition.

Newly hatched chicks climb out of the loose soil of the mound and being fully feathered are capable of flight.

Being restricted to small islands and threatened by hunting, the species is vulnerable to extinction.

Young birds have a fully feathered face and hatchlings are small quail-like with rufous barring on the wings and back.

In 1901, W L Abbott collected specimens from Little Nicobar which were described in 1919 by H C Oberholser as a new subspecies abbotti, distinguished by its darker brown plumage.

Many species in the genus are said to be monogamous, but the Nicobar megapode has been found to form temporary pair bonds.

A study in Great Nicobar found from an examination of their stomach that their food was mainly made up of the seeds of Macaranga peltata followed by insects, snails, crustaceans and reptiles.

These mounds are constructed with coral sand containing minute shells and plant materials, such as leaves, twigs, and other debris.

New mounds are built either by digging a pit or piling up soil and plant materials against the stump or fallen log.

The eggs are elongate elliptical in shape and at a sixth of the weight of the bird, relatively large.

[18] The egg is laid on the mound and the parent digs a hole to bury it within and covers it up with plant material and soil.

[19] In the 1900s, eggs taken to Calcutta zoo hatched and the chicks, reared on a diet of termites, grew very tame.