mallee fowl

or mallee-fowl

noun

1. an Australian bird, Leipoa ocellata, of variegated gray, brown, white, and black plumage, that lays up to 35 eggs in an incubating mound.

mallee fowl

noun

1. an Australian megapode, Leipoa ocellata, that allows its eggs to incubate naturally in a sandy mound

Word History and Origins

Origin of mallee fowl¹

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

Or the mallee fowl, which assiduously builds an incubator for its eggs and keeps the temperature inside at a steady 95�, come rain or shine?

From Time Magazine Archive