Mallee Fowl and Plains Wanderer

Mallee Fowls used to build a very large "nest" which can be more than 1.5 metres high and 4 metres wide. The nest is usually made of leaves, sticks and sand. The male Malee Fowl works for few months to rake up sand and loose plant material with his feet to form the mound. Mallee fowl used to live in very dry parts of southern Australia, usually in low and scrubby timber called "mallee".

The male Malees gathers all the mound materials from many metres around, a hole is dug down into the mound and the female starts laying. More than twenty of eggs are laid often in several layers. The rotting plant material and the heat of the sun supply warmth to hatch the eggs. The male Mallees will tests the heat of the mound with his bill and keeps the nest at the correct temperature by adding or taking the sand away.

Mallee fowls requires special habitat to live because their lives are threatened by grazing animals like rabbits.

Plains Wandered just like many Australian native birds which live on or near the ground are no longer common. They have been found in Victoria and southern New South Wales, but it was only once. The areas in which they like to live most are usually in farming lands. When farmers cleared land for wheat-growing or ran sheep and cattle on their farms the habitat of the birds disappeared.

The only way for the birds to survive is to set aside the suitable lands for them to live to.