One of the 4 birds on WAnimals
Birds · Passeriformes · Menuridae
Superb Lyrebird
Menura novaehollandiae
The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary
The superb lyrebird is the largest passerine in the world and the finest vocal mimic in the animal kingdom. The male has a spectacular tail of sixteen feathers that he spreads over his head like a lyre during courtship, singing from a mound of earth he builds himself. Three quarters of his repertoire is mimicry: he reproduces with astonishing accuracy the voices of dozens of neighbouring species and any persistent sound in his surroundings.
Weight
750 g – 1.1 kg
Size
80 cm – 1 m
Lifespan
30 years
Diet
Insectivore
Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Easy
Fun facts
- comunicaciónIt can reproduce complex artificial sounds with great fidelity, chainsaws and camera shutters included, working them into its territorial song.
- It mimics anything it hears regularly: birds have been documented reproducing chainsaws, car alarms, camera shutters, dogs barking and the sound of a gunshot, always woven into their own song sequence.
- It is the largest passerine in the world and also one of the longest-lived: it can exceed thirty years.
- In scratching the forest floor for invertebrates it turns over tonnes of leaf litter per hectare per year, to the point that it is considered a genuine factor in reducing fire risk in the forests where it is abundant.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Temperate rainforest and wet eucalypt forest of south-eastern Australia
- Sexual maturity
- 6 years
- Gestation / incubation
- 50 days of incubation
- Litter / clutch size
- 1 egg
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
Where to watch it
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Superb Lyrebird — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Australian Brushturkey
Alectura lathami
Satin Bowerbird
Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Spotted Pardalote
Pardalotus punctatus
Superb Fairywren
Malurus cyaneus
Regent Bowerbird
Sericulus chrysocephalus
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