Some time ago we briefly considered this unusual bird, but now we'll give it a more complete look. A Mallee-fowl is large, about the size of a turkey, and has a rather long neck and a small head with a crest on top and a strong, sharp beak. Some of them are quite pretty, with a plain white front and underpart of the body, except for a striped black ribbon from the neck to the base of the chest. The outstanding feature is a pinkish-brown (or sometimes pinkish-gray) marbling of the wings and tail feathers, giving them an attractive appearance.
They are not too choosy about food, eating mostly seeds, as well as fruit and buds, worms and insects. They gather this food by scratching the soil for it, just as a chicken does in the barnyard. Although living in a hot, dry country, water is not a problem as God who created them, as the above Bible verse says, has given them the ability to go for long periods without it.
Their homeland in Australia is called "Mallee Country" because so many live there. In this area eucalyptus trees grow close together with scarcely any sunlight breaking through, except at random spots. In some of these bare, but hot spots will be found huge mounds of dirt, as big and high as a small cottage. This, however, is not a natural dirt pile; it is built by a number of Mallee-fowl working together (over the years), using their strong legs and sharp-clawed feet to form it. This is done by standing with their backs toward a central spot (forming a circle) and then digging and kicking dirt, leaves, broken branches, stones and anything else their feet may find toward that target. Each bird selects a place from which to kick and contributes its share toward making a more-or-less round heap.
When these mounds get too big to be managed, a new site is selected, and they start again from ground level. The beginning work is easy compared to what it becomes when the mound has been added to for several years and may become as large as 15 feet wide and several feet high. Just think what strong legs and feet they have to kick this material so high over such an area! Each year they work several days at building it a little higher—a tremendous job—and it's amazing some don't give up. But they work together very nicely, just as ordered by the Creator when He first formed them.
He wants all of us to behave just the way the Bible tells us, also. If we want to please Him and ask His help, He will enable us to do so.
The Mallee-Fowl
The adjoining page has told us a few things about the Mallee-fowl of Australia and their huge mounds of dirt. We have no way of knowing if the name Adam gave them, referred to in the above verse, was changed, but we have a clue to their present name—they are of the species known as "megapodes," which means mound-builder or incubator bird.
After completing the mound (previously described) each male bird picks a spot on the top, scoops out a hole about three-feet deep in which he places green leaves, grass, flowers and plant stems, then covers it all with the dirt he has just dug out. The bird follows God-given instincts in what it does and seems to realize the covered vegetation will soon decay under the dirt, producing much heat. In fact, he stays nearby and each day checks on the nest until he feels the temperature rising. Then he again digs into the hole and calls several females (hens), to come and lay their eggs in it, which are then covered with the material he has just scooped out.
At that point the hens consider their responsibility ended and disappear, apparently not caring or thinking of what will happen to the eggs or the chicks that will hatch from them. But the father bird stays on the job, checking every day by digging his beak into the nest to make sure there is plenty of heat to keep the eggs well incubated. If not, he scrapes hot sand over them and may do all this over and over for several weeks. Did you ever hear of such a busy, faithful father bird?
The male is so faithful in his care that if rain threatens, he will pile additional sand on top to absorb the moisture, and when the storm is over he will scrape it all off again. Finally, the chicks hatch, climb up through the dirt, and wobble weakly off to the brush where they learn to take care of themselves.
Sometimes, instead of digging nests at the top of the pile the male makes a tunnel into the side until he finds a spot where the temperature is just right, then he guides a hen to that spot to deposit her eggs and, like the others, he watches over them until the chicks hatch and work their way to the outside.
These unusual birds remind us of the wonders of all God's creation and the pleasure He had in forming them all. We might wonder how these birds ever thought of such an unusual way to incubate and hatch their eggs, but then we realize they didn't have to learn how to do this, for the Lord God arranged it for them when He first placed them on the earth and provided instincts that have been followed ever since. God loves and cares for you, too. Have you ever thanked Him for this?