Leipoa ocellata was formerly widespread in Australia, but its range appears to have contracted by about 50% during the 20th Century². Despite the availability of survey data from sites across its range¹⁴, a recent estimate of the total population size is lacking. Estimates in the 1980s suggested there were only 750 pairs in New South Wales and less than 1,000 pairs in Victoria. Numbers in South Australia are probably higher, perhaps several thousand pairs. However, data from protected areas suggests that densities in this state have typically declined by 75% since 1989-1990, with populations in New South Wales probably declining at about the same rate¹³. The species's population in Western Australia is believed to exceed the total in all other states, although records from this state generally represent less than 40% of all current and past records, despite efforts since the 1990s to encourage reports of sightings¹⁴. By 1989, the range and abundance of this species was judged to have contracted dramatically in the arid areas of South and Western Australia¹², but since then it has been found at numerous sites in these states¹⁴. The species is judged to be in a continuing decline across its range¹³. It has not been recorded for several decades (and is probably extinct) in the Northern Territory².