Species: Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae)
Family: Menuridae
This article is all about one of nature’s greatest impersonators, the Lyrebird! The Lyrebird has been around for over 10 million years, and during that time, it has evolved a very unique skill. They can imitate the calls of other bird species. Not only can they imitate other birds, but they can also imitate human-generated noises such as car alarms, camera shutters, and chainsaws. Let’s take a listen to one now.
Appearance
The Lyrebird is named after the ornate shape of its tail feathers, which resemble a medieval lyre, an early form of harp. The lyre originated in ancient Mesopotamia and gained usage across Europe.
There are two species of lyrebirds, both belonging to the genus Menura: the Superb Lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) and Albert’s Lyrebird (Menura alberti). This article is specifically looking at the Superb Lyrebird. About the size of a pheasant, this ground-dwelling songbird has brownish-grey plumage, strong legs, and a long, fanned tail.
Diet
Lyrebirds have a varied diet that includes invertebrates like worms, snails, and millipedes. They are also known to be mycophagists, which means they consume fungi. Additionally, on an opportunistic basis, they may eat amphibians, such as frogs, and small reptiles, like lizards.
They feed by using their large feet to dig through leaf litter. Indeed, they move so much leaf litter each year that it is estimated that they are one of the most efficient ecosystem improvers of all the vertebrates on the planet. Their digging helps to aerate the soil and to bury leaf litter, thereby helping seeds to germinate and creating environments for invertebrates.
To help put this in perspective, research has shown that a single Lyrebird can excavate 155 tons of material each year. That’s approximately the same as 11 trucks of soil!
Habitat
They can be found exclusively in Australia and have a preference for temperate forests. Their current range includes the southeastern areas of Australia, particularly Victoria and New South Wales. They also inhabit parts of Tasmania after being introduced in the 1930s.
Behavior
So why did this bird evolve such a unique capability, enabling them to mimic other animals as well as manmade objects? To determine this, we need to take a closer look at the lyrebird’s behavior.
It turns out that it’s all about their reproductive cycle. Males perform an elaborate courtship display. Breeding males construct an elevated patch of ground so that females can see them and hear them. They then perform an elaborate dancing and singing routine to attract any females in the area.
Their mimicry is so realistic that it can even fool other species. But the clinching factor on whether he can attract a mate or not versus his rivals is often the range and diversity of calls. It is thought that by imitating man-made noises, it may fool the female into thinking there may be danger in the area, and therefore stick close to the male, which in turn increases his chances of mating. You would intuitively think that hearing a chainsaw would make any female birds go in the opposite direction, but this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lyrebirds are also polygamous, and a single male will create a little harem of female Lyrebirds within his range. Male Lyrebirds aren’t very parental, and therefore females are left to construct nests on the forest floor out of twigs, and incubate a single egg for between 40 and 50days.
Once hatched, the nestlings stay with the female for up to 10 weeks before being fully fledged.
Males take several years to develop their elaborate plumage; in the meantime, they look very similar to the females.
Biometrics
Here are some key biometrics for this species. Lyrebirds are around 80cm in length, with a weight of up to 1250g. They live for up to 30 years in the wild.
Predators
As a ground-nesting bird, the main predators for Lyrebirds are mammals such as foxes, as well as domestic cats.
Conservation Status
The Lyrebird is registered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as Least Concern from a conservation viewpoint.
REFERENCES
- Elliott, T.F.; Vernes, K. (2019). “Superb lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae mycophagy, truffles and soil disturbance”. International Journal of Avian Science. 161: 198–204. [Accessed 11/07/2025]
- Maisey, A.C., Haslem, A. and Bennett, A.F. (2025) ‘Foraging activity by an ecosystem engineer, the superb lyrebird, “farms” its invertebrate prey’, The Journal of Animal Ecology, 94(5), pp. 848–862. [Accessed 11/07/2025]
CITATIONS
- Lyrebird Illustration By J. Gould and E. Gould; Lithographer: E. Gould – The birds of Australia (1840–48). Vol III Plate 14. Artists: J. Gould and E. Gould; Lithographer: E. Gould., Public Domain. [Accessed 11/07/2025] ↩︎
- Lyrebird Nest Site | By Sidney William Jackson – Internet Archive identifier: emuofficialorgan1019101911roya, Public Domain, [Accessed 11/07/2025] ↩︎
- Lyrebird Egg | Photographer: Boheme Rawoteea Museums Victoria. (Licensed as Attribution 4.0 International) [Accessed 11/07/2025] ↩︎
