Home Range and Hatching Success of Malleefowl, Leipoa-Ocellata Gould (Megapodiidae), in Murray Mallee Near Renmark, Sa

Abstract

The home range of malleefowl in low-rainfall Murray mallee was approximately 4 km2, but home ranges of birds from different mounds overlapped to a considerable degree, resulting in an overall breeding density of 1.1 pairs per square kilometre. Mean clutch size (�95% CI) was 13.8 � 4.1, mean egg mass (�95% CI) 168�2 g; and 79.2% of eggs hatched successfully. No eggs were taken by foxes, but four out of six radio-tagged adults were eaten by foxes. These results differ from those of Frith, who studied malleefowl in high-rainfall mallee near Griffith, N.S.W. I suggest that differences in bird density and fecundity are related to vegetation differences, and that the difference in egg predation is related to differences in the way tkie incubation mounds at the two sites were maintained.