To count Malleefowl eggs, you have to be prepared to get dirty. The eggs of these threatened birds lie buried in a nest of sand and mulch, up to a metre high and five metres across. This is where they have been left by their parents, to be incubated by sand heated by the sun, and decaying leaf litter.
“I like the parental care they don’t give. While they monitor the nest, once the chicks hatch, they’re on their own,” says Conservation Program Manager, Trudy Nelson who is also a covenantor, and Secretary of the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network.
Built over several months, the nest is tended by the male Malleefowl, who monitors the temperature and adds or removes sand to keep it steady. From spring, the female feeds and lays an egg every week or so for several months. By mid-summer, a nest can have up to 30 eggs.
Surveying the eggs is part of the effort going to reverse the fortunes of these unique birds. Alongside Djaara, the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group, and the National Mallefowl Recovery Group, many like Trudy gently scrape away sand and rocks from the nests by hand. Once the eggs are uncovered, their position is carefully marked, before they are removed and weighed. Then, the eggs are carefully returned to exactly where they were found and gently recovered.
“I like the parental care they don’t give. While they monitor the nest, once the chicks hatch, they’re on their own,” says Conservation Program Manager, Trudy Nelson who is also a covenantor, and Secretary of the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network.
Built over several months, the nest is tended by the male Malleefowl, who monitors the temperature and adds or removes sand to keep it steady. From spring, the female feeds and lays an egg every week or so for several months. By mid-summer, a nest can have up to 30 eggs.
Surveying the eggs is part of the effort going to reverse the fortunes of these unique birds. Alongside Djaara, the Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group, and the National Mallefowl Recovery Group, many like Trudy gently scrape away sand and rocks from the nests by hand. Once the eggs are uncovered, their position is carefully marked, before they are removed and weighed. Then, the eggs are carefully returned to exactly where they were found and gently recovered.
Once found across the southern half of inland Australia, from Western Australia to Queensland, Malleefowl have declined as their habitat has been cleared and fragmented. They once thrived just 30 km from Melbourne, but now their southernmost population is at Wedderburn. Here, the birds are separated from others, with the next population some 200 km away in the Little Desert NP, – and low genetic diversity is a serious concern. The Wedderburn Catchment Management Network – with advice and support from others, such as the National Malleefowl Recovery Group – hope to one day transport eggs between populations to improve genetics.
There are still large areas of habitat in north west Victoria, protected in national parks like Murray-Sunset, Wyperfeld, Little Desert and Hattah-Kulkyne; plenty of room for Malleefowl, you might think. But the story is more complicated than it first appears. Most of those areas remain uncleared because they were less fertile for farming.
Malleefowl, like crops, appear to thrive best in the more fertile areas of mallee habitat. In these areas, the vegetation that the Malleefowl depend on for food and shelter is denser, and water held by clay in the soil keeps it greener through droughts. Today, these are mostly found around the fringes of the national parks and reserves, and they are mostly on private land.
“We need to protect those more fertile patches of mallee vegetation next to reserves,” says Doug Robinson, Chief Conservation Scientist at Trust for Nature. “They are vital refuges that are becoming even more important as the climate warms and more northern areas of their range become drier.”
Fire is another threat – Malleefowl prefer habitat that has not been burned for at least 20 years. Much of the Little Desert burned in early 2025; fires are forecast to become more frequent and severe due to climate change. Many of the long-unburned areas of habitat are now on private land.
There are still large areas of habitat in north west Victoria, protected in national parks like Murray-Sunset, Wyperfeld, Little Desert and Hattah-Kulkyne; plenty of room for Malleefowl, you might think. But the story is more complicated than it first appears. Most of those areas remain uncleared because they were less fertile for farming.
Malleefowl, like crops, appear to thrive best in the more fertile areas of mallee habitat. In these areas, the vegetation that the Malleefowl depend on for food and shelter is denser, and water held by clay in the soil keeps it greener through droughts. Today, these are mostly found around the fringes of the national parks and reserves, and they are mostly on private land.
“We need to protect those more fertile patches of mallee vegetation next to reserves,” says Doug Robinson, Chief Conservation Scientist at Trust for Nature. “They are vital refuges that are becoming even more important as the climate warms and more northern areas of their range become drier.”
Fire is another threat – Malleefowl prefer habitat that has not been burned for at least 20 years. Much of the Little Desert burned in early 2025; fires are forecast to become more frequent and severe due to climate change. Many of the long-unburned areas of habitat are now on private land.
It’s not just Malleefowl. A whole suite of threatened mallee animalssuch as the Mallee Emu-wren, Black-eared Minerand Master’s Snake n seem to prefer the more fertile, and/or less frequently burned patches of habitat that are the stronghold for Malleefowl.
One of those patches has now been secured by Trust for Nature, through the Revolving Fund. Supported by the Australian Government through the Protecting Important Biodiversity Areas Program, Trust for Nature has purchased 860 hectares of Malleefowl habitat near Annuello.
The property will be permanently protected with a conservation covenant, creating a sanctuary for Malleefowl and other threatened species, then on sold. Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase and protect more habitat across Victoria.
“You probably couldn’t get a better mallee habitat property,” said Greg Ogle, Reserves Project Officer, who has observed several Malleefowl nests on the property. “It’s quiet, peaceful and has a sense of remoteness about it.”
“It joins onto Annuello Flora and Fauna Reserve, which is a core area for Malleefowl and other mallee-dependent species. It helps connect patches of habitat across the landscape,” said Greg.
Much of the property has never been farmed, while the part that has been cleared provides an opportunity for restoration. South of Annuello around Wedderburn, Trudy and others are working hard to improve Malleefowl habitat on private land, controlling weeds like cactus, and planting trees and shrubs. Survey methods using LiDAR (a form of imaging that uses lasers to measure minute changes in ground level) are revealing there are more Malleefowl nests around Wedderburn, and hopefully more Malleefowl, than once thought.
Foxes are baited around nests and checked weekly: cameras reveal that they dig into the nests for the eggs. When the eggs hatch, after about 60 days, the chicks are on their own. They can run immediately, and fly within a day. Even so, they’re extremely vulnerable – up to 80% of chicks die in the first ten days or so, either eaten by predators or failing to find enough food.
“We’ve had footage of them coming out of the nests,” says Trudy. “They just get up and run. Dad might look over his shoulder but otherwise he just ignores them.”
But by protecting and improving their habitat, landholders, scientists and conservation groups are giving these unique birds a fighting chance.
Looking to learn more about unique Australian species? See our article on managing habitat for Plains-wanderers.
One of those patches has now been secured by Trust for Nature, through the Revolving Fund. Supported by the Australian Government through the Protecting Important Biodiversity Areas Program, Trust for Nature has purchased 860 hectares of Malleefowl habitat near Annuello.
The property will be permanently protected with a conservation covenant, creating a sanctuary for Malleefowl and other threatened species, then on sold. Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase and protect more habitat across Victoria.
“You probably couldn’t get a better mallee habitat property,” said Greg Ogle, Reserves Project Officer, who has observed several Malleefowl nests on the property. “It’s quiet, peaceful and has a sense of remoteness about it.”
“It joins onto Annuello Flora and Fauna Reserve, which is a core area for Malleefowl and other mallee-dependent species. It helps connect patches of habitat across the landscape,” said Greg.
Much of the property has never been farmed, while the part that has been cleared provides an opportunity for restoration. South of Annuello around Wedderburn, Trudy and others are working hard to improve Malleefowl habitat on private land, controlling weeds like cactus, and planting trees and shrubs. Survey methods using LiDAR (a form of imaging that uses lasers to measure minute changes in ground level) are revealing there are more Malleefowl nests around Wedderburn, and hopefully more Malleefowl, than once thought.
Foxes are baited around nests and checked weekly: cameras reveal that they dig into the nests for the eggs. When the eggs hatch, after about 60 days, the chicks are on their own. They can run immediately, and fly within a day. Even so, they’re extremely vulnerable – up to 80% of chicks die in the first ten days or so, either eaten by predators or failing to find enough food.
“We’ve had footage of them coming out of the nests,” says Trudy. “They just get up and run. Dad might look over his shoulder but otherwise he just ignores them.”
But by protecting and improving their habitat, landholders, scientists and conservation groups are giving these unique birds a fighting chance.
Looking to learn more about unique Australian species? See our article on managing habitat for Plains-wanderers.
