SOCIAL MEDIA

National Malleefowl Recovery Team

2 weeks ago

Compared to the recent video we shared this pair has timing and direction down pat!

Here is an extract from The Mallee-Fowl written by H.J. Frith “Why build the mound at all? Wouldn’t it be easier to sit on eggs and be done with it?. These are the commonest questions asked when people are first shown a mallee-fowl slaving away in the hot midsummer sun, digging sand out and then digging it in again. Why not incubate the eggs in a normal manner and save this immense amount of labour? We shall never know how the mound-building habit arose, but it is interesting to speculate, and can do no harm. One thing is certain: if this habit did not suit the birds’ temperament or was not efficient enough to maintain their numbers, they would have changed it, or else would have disappeared from the earth ages ago.
A suggestion is often made that the incubation habit is a survival from the birds’ reptilian ancestors; that as some reptiles assumed the powers of flight, the majority of these ultimately began to build nests and brood their eggs, though some retained the old system of burying eggs in the ground to hatch. The similarity is striking when one considers the sunlit coral beaches where the turtles heave themselves from the sea to lay eggs in holes, side by side with the jungle-fowl who walk from the bush and lay their eggs. The young turtles scatter to the sea and the young megapodes to the bush.
Further inland, where dark and damp monsoon forests fringe the rivers, female crocodiles crawl from the waters and build mounds of leaves in which their eggs are laid, side by side with the leafy mounds of the jungle-fowl.”

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National Malleefowl Recovery Team

3 weeks ago

Communication is key... Malleefowl work on their mounds in pairs, moving sand to adjust to the temperature, but sometimes disagreements can happen...

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National Malleefowl Recovery Team

1 month ago

Did you know we have a free ebook available on all things Malleefowl? Written and edited by Graeme Tonkins, it has interactive features, covers a range on topics and is available for iphones, ipads and mac computers. Just open the "books" app on your device (it's already pre-installed) and search for Malleefowl (or click on this direct link from your device: books.apple.com/au/book/malleefowl/id1313712686)

Alternatively here is the link for the PDF version for all platforms: bit.ly/MF_PDF_EBOOK

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National Malleefowl Recovery Team

3 months ago

Mound building can be quite a dusty affair! This is a clip from the camera trap archives showing a busy pair working on their mound. #malleefowl #savingmalleefowl ... See MoreSee Less

National Malleefowl Recovery Team

3 months ago

Incredible footage of the first few seconds after a Malleefowl chick cracked through the egg - Joe Benshemesh captured this while in the field for a translocation project led by local landholders, the Riverina Local Land Services and the National Malleefowl Recovery Group (with support from the National Landcare Program). The chick made it out of the mound and went on his way shortly after.

After their emergence from the mound, the chicks are capable of leaving the nest mound entirely on their own and receive no parental care. They are capable of feeding and flying within 24 hours of their emergence. ... See MoreSee Less