Animal Fact Sheets
Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)

The Malleefowl has been described as one of the world’s most hard working birds.

Photo: Robert Dockerill

This is because the male spends approximately 300 days a year digging and checking the nesting mound. The bird is almost the same size as a turkey which is around 60cm long. It can fly, but prefers to live on the ground as it is a powerful runner. It will fly into low trees to roost or hide. The Malleefowl’s brown, black and white feathers offer excellent camouflage.

Breeding and Lifecycle
It is the breeding aspect of the Malleefowl that makes it so unique and amazing. In April or May the male will begin to prepare the nesting mound, usually building on an old mound site. He will dig a hole to a depth of around one metre and a diameter of 3 to 4m. Leaves, twigs, bark and other organic material are deposited into the hole. As the organic material decomposed it releases heat which in time will incubate the eggs. He fills the hole with sandy soil by kicking backwards with his powerful legs. This forms a mound about 1.5m high and some 5m wide. On top of the mound an egg chamber is dug. When the chamber is ready, usually in September, the female will lay up to 35 eggs. The eggs are quite big and have very thin shells. Due to the number and size of the eggs the female has a high energy requirement and because of this spends most of her time searching for food, leaving the male to do all the digging and caring of the mound.

The male will spend around 300 days a year caring for the mound. Throughout the breeding season the male defends the mound and keeps it at a constant temperature of 33 degrees celsius. It is incredible how accurate he is! He checks the temperature with his beak and will alter the mound accordingly. If it is hot he will scratch some of the fermenting organic material out of the mound and if it needs heating he will allow the hot sun to provide warmth. In his attempts for a perfect mound the male Malleefowl will shift tonnes of sand during a year and lose a lot of weight. When the chicks hatch, after seven weeks, they have to dig their way to the surface. Often they are buried a metre underground. The adult Malleefowl is quite big and can defend itself however the newly hatched are every weak and vulnerable. They get no protection from their parents which makes them easy targets for foxes.

Habitat and Distribution
The word ‘mallee’ means scrub formed by eucalypts in the arid areas of Australia. This is the habitat of the Malleefowl. They prefer scrubland with sandy soil which allows easier building of nest mounds. The Malleefowl habitat is found throughout the dry inland areas of southern Australia. Much of this land has been cleared for farming and cattle grazing.

Diet
The Malleefowl mainly feeds on seeds found on the ground. It finds these seeds by scratching the bush floor with its powerful feet on insects and the buds of plants. The Malleefowl has a short, strong beak to eat its food.

Threats to Survival
It is estimated there are fewer than 2000 Malleefowl pairs left in Australia today. There are a number of reasons why this hardworking bird is critically endangered. Hunting by foxes is perhaps the most significant reason. This is especially true for the chicks because they freeze when confronted with danger and try to camouflage. This works with their natural predators, which include birds of prey, who hunt with their sense of sight. However for the fox, who has an excellent sense of smell, chicks are easy targets. Competition for food by rabbits is also having a devastating effect on the Malleefowl. Another reason for their declining numbers is that their habitat is being reduced to provide land for farming.

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