96 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 21 x 30 cm. #140122

Adults reach 60cm in length and weigh up to 2.5kg – about the size of a large domestic chicken.

Male and female Malleefowl are similar in colour – their heads are grey, their breasts a cream-white and their wings are a striking mottle of white, grey, brown and black. Put together, they’re well-camouflaged, and they use this ability to sneak away from predators. Australia, by the aboriginal name Nganamara.

Malleefowl are listed as Vulnerable nationally and according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Historically, they were found across a large proportion of mainland southern Australia.

During the 20th Century their range contracted by 50%. They’re now limited to arid and semi-arid parts of inland Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and central NSW. It’s believed that Malleefowl are now extinct from the Northern Territory, where there have been no records since the 1960s.

As their name suggests, Malleefowl prefer areas dominated by ‘mallee‘ – multi-stemmed, low-growing, Eucalyptus vegetation. They’re also found in woodlands and shrublands dominated eucalypt, native pine and acacia species. They need a sandy substrate and lots of leaf litter to build their nesting mounds.

They’re mostly ground-dwelling, but – surprisingly given their rotund frame – are also strong flyers and roost in trees at night.

Malleefowl Preservation Group — Biography.  |  Malleefowl — Conservation — Western Australia.  |  Volunteer workers in conservation of natural resources — Western Australia — Biography.