Page 28 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 2_2024

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

THE SPECIAL ABILITIES OF

THE MALLEE FOWL

B Y PETER S T OFFBERG

t’s difficult to see anything special about Mallee
fowl. They are rather drab-looking chicken-sized
IAustralian birds. Their singing doesn’t exactly turn
heads. You have to watch really closely before you
pick up anything spectacular.

But the way that they nest and raise their young is
spectacular. Mallee fowl mate for life, and go about
raising their families in a most surprising way. Firstly,
they painstakingly excavate an incubation mound
that can be as much as three metres across. It’s
typically a metre deep and is carefully filled, over a
period of months, with layers of sand and organic
matter like grass and leaves.

When there’s rain, the male bird expertly exposes
the organic matter to the water as he mixes and
arranges the heap. He’s a bit of a phenomenon. He
has special temperature-sensing ability built into
his beak and is able to regulate the temperature in
the mound by shifting things around. He harnesses
the heat of the decomposing organic matter and
manages it so that the mound remains a constant
33oc.

The female has her own challenge. Each egg she ON SITE SUNDAY SERVICES @ 9h30
lays is approximately 10% of her body weight, and
she lays one every week for pretty much half the www.familychurch.online
year. Dad takes each egg and positions it in the DAINFERN COLLEGE AUDITORIUM
mound where he maintains its temperature until it
hatches. A few degrees out would mean the end of
the eggs, and another step closer to the fate of the Mallee fowl are a great dinner table discussion for
Dodo. the family. The way God designs and equips his
creatures is astounding. They are all so different,
Mom and Dad have a tough time, but spare a and constantly surprising us with their special
thought for the kids. They can be buried quite deep abilities.
and have to lie on their backs after hatching, and
use their feet to dig their way to the surface. Once Each one of us also has one’s own gifts and
out, they can breathe a sigh of relief and run off to challenges, and it’s so important to discuss these
start their own adventure. as a family. We need to hear and understand the
difficulties our kids face, and dinner-time discussions
illuminate their growing special abilities too.

It’s also fascinating to find out how our kids
understand our challenges as parents, and what
they see as our special abilities! Mallee fowl are
great, but human families are even better and so
much more precious in God’ eyes. Enjoy your time
together.

6 DPL issue 2 2023

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28 DPL issue 2 2024