CreatureData

Malleefowl

Leipoa ocellata Gould, 1840

VUVulnerablebirds

The malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is a species in the family Megapodiidae, order Galliformes. Recorded adults weigh 1.79 kg to 2.4 kg and live up to 7.5 years. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)
Photo: Kr.afol at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the malleefowl

Weight
1.79 kg – 2.4 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
7.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation
70 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch
12.8 – 18.6src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.5 yearssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the malleefowl live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The malleefowl is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the malleefowl?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken (to which it is distantly related). It is notable for the large nesting mounds constructed by the males and lack of parental care after the chicks hatch. It is the only living representative of the genus Leipoa, though the extinct giant malleefowl was a close relative.

From the Wikipedia article “Malleefowl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malleefowl&oldid=1373999981), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the malleefowl endangered?

The malleefowl is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the malleefowl classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderGalliformes
  5. familyMegapodiidae
  6. genusLeipoa
  7. SpeciesLeipoa ocellata Gould, 1840

Synonyms Leipoa ocellata ocellata

Other names and names in other languages (31)
  • طائر الكافور القزميArabic
  • talègol ocel·latCatalan
  • tabon holubíCzech
  • aderyn malîWelsh
  • MalleehøneDanish
  • ThermometerhuhnGerman
  • ocela megapodoEsperanto
  • Talégalo leipoaSpanish
  • kõnnu-rihukanaEstonian
  • malleekanaFinnish
  • Léipoa ocelléFrench
  • pjegava kokošinaCroatian
  • homoki lábastyúkHungarian
  • Megapodio del malleeItalian
  • クサムラツカツクリJapanese
  • akiuotoji vištaLithuanian
  • ThermometervogelDutch
  • malleeovnhøneNorwegian
  • nogal prążkowanyPolish
  • leipoaPortuguese
  • frango-do-méliPortuguese
  • peru-do-mato-oceladoPortuguese
  • Глазчатая курицаRussian
  • Глазчатая сорная курицаRussian
  • tabon okavýSlovak
  • Pegava megapodaSerbian
  • malleehönaSwedish
  • Benekli MegapodTurkish
  • великоніг строкатийUkrainian
  • 斑塚雉Chinese
  • 眼斑塚雉Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the malleefowl

Other species in the same family Megapodiidae.

CR, Critically Endangered
Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo)

Maleo

Macrocephalon maleo

Megapodiidae

CompareMalleefowl vs MaleoMalleefowl vs Australian brushturkeyMalleefowl vs Orange-footed scrubfowlMalleefowl vs Moluccan megapode

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the malleefowl?

An adult malleefowl weighs 1.79 kg – 2.4 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the malleefowl live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the malleefowl for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the malleefowl endangered?

The malleefowl is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the malleefowl live?

The malleefowl has a recorded lifespan of 7.5 years.

What kind of animal is the malleefowl?

The malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) belongs to the family Megapodiidae in the order Galliformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/malleefowl

MLA

“Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/malleefowl.

BibTeX
@misc{malleefowl_2026,
  title = {Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/malleefowl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}