These birds do not need to drink from surface water. He then collects leaves and twigs and drops them into the hole until he actually has a mound which is about 1 meters higher than the surrounding ground level.
Rain then wets all the twigs and leaves etc.
He recovers each egg individually. For the eggs incubation period of 49 days the males job is to keep the egg chamber at 33 -34 degrees Celsius. By putting his beak into the mound the male Mallee Fowl is able to judge the temperature of the mound When the chick is born it digs its own way out of the mound and must take care of its self, find its own food and is able to fly within 24 hours.