Superb Lyrebird: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Five facts

1. The male superb lyrebird's tail has sixteen feathers and can reach 70 cm. Fanned out, it looks like a lyre.
2. 70 % to 80 % of a male lyrebird's songs are borrowed from other species, from birds to marsupials.
3. Its copies are so accurate that the birds being copied sometimes cannot tell them from their own song.
4. To court a female, the male dances on a mound of bare earth, his tail fanned over his whole body and head.
5. A single lyrebird can shift up to 200 tonnes of leaf litter and soil per hectare each year.

The quiz

1. How many feathers make up the male's lyre tail?

• Six
• Sixteen (correct)
• Twenty-six
• Sixty

The tail is made of sixteen feathers.

2. Roughly what share of a male's songs is borrowed from other species?

• About 10 %
• About 30 %
• 70 % to 80 % (correct)
• Nearly 100 %

Around three-quarters, 70 % to 80 %, is borrowed.

3. Who can sometimes be fooled by a lyrebird's copy?

• Only young lyrebirds
• Only humans
• The original singers (correct)
• Nobody

In one study, shrike-thrushes reacted to the lyrebird's copy exactly as to their own song.

4. What does the male do with his tail when courting a female?

• Drags it through the mud
• Fans it over his body and head (correct)
• Folds it under his belly
• Hides it behind a tree

During his display he spreads his tail to cover his whole body and head.

5. How much leaf litter and soil can one lyrebird shift per hectare each year?

• Up to 2 tonnes
• Up to 20 tonnes
• Up to 200 tonnes (correct)
• Up to 2,000 tonnes

Up to 200 tonnes per hectare each year.

More about the Superb Lyrebird

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