Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01095:body:0:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01095
Segment Type: other
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Character Range: 38588–41409

(Priddel & Wheeler 2003). Although the population declined markedly during the study, the average time that Malleefowl were known in the study was 7.5 years. The age of birds when they were first captured and marked as breeding adults was unknown.

These observations suggest an average breeding life in the field of about 15 years. However, much higher mortality than suggested above has been recorded amongst adults in a SA study (Booth 1987a). In that study, several adult deaths occurred over a short time and were attributed to predation by foxes. These birds were recaptured and handled every month and the resulting stress might have contributed to the high mortality. In captivity, the condition and behaviour of Malleefowl may be affected for several weeks after handling (C Sims pers. comm. cited in Benshemesh 2007b; K Brumby pers. comm. cited in Benshemesh 2007b). In the wild, the behaviour of radio-tagged birds is often atypical and erratic for a day or two after capture and handling (Benshemesh 2007b).
3.4.2 Diet
Malleefowl are generalist feeders. Various anecdotal reports and studies have described the diet of Malleefowl as consisting of the seeds, flowers and fruits of shrubs (especially legumes), herbs, invertebrates, tubers and fungi (Barker & Vestjens 1981; Booth 1986; Brickhill 1987a; Kentish & Westbrooke 1994; Harlen & Priddel 1996; Reichelt & May 1997; Harold & Dennings 1998). These studies, and the differences between them, indicate that Malleefowl diet is characteristically variable and that different foods are important at different times and locations. For example, Frith (1962a) observed the diet of adults throughout the year as mostly seeds and fruits of shrubs (73%), particularly of acacias, whereas in other studies seeds from introduced herbs and crops have been predominant in the summer (Booth 1986; Brickhill 1987a; Kentish & Westbrooke 1994; Waag 2004), and herbs and fungi predominate through the cooler months of the year (Benshemesh 1992; Reichelt & May 1997; Harold & Dennings 1998). In habitats bordering croplands, Malleefowl are often observed feeding on fallen grain at the edges of uncleared habitat and up to 100m or so into cropland, and these foods may be crucial to the persistence of the birds in small reserves (Brickhill 1987a; Storr 1991; Copley & Williams 1995). GPS tracking of three adult Malleefowl living within 300 m of cropland showed that these three Malleefowl were closely tied to patches of native vegetation (at least 97.5% of their time was spent in native vegetation), only moving up to 250m across cleared land and making very little use of cleared agricultural land, mainly before and during harvest (Stenhouse and Moseby, 2023).

In general, the diet of chicks is thought to be similar to that of adults, although observations have been