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H a M o Z z L e
V i D E O V a u l t :::.
::The SUPERB LYREBiRD::
::w i t h S i R D A
V i D A T T E N B O R O U G H::
The Superb Lyrebird is the World's Best Mimic..
::sHaMoZzLe
ViDEO Vault::::ABOUT THE SUPERB LYREBIRD VIDEO::
"See an unbelievable bird mimic human sounds.. car alarms.. chainsaws.. cameras & all kinds of other birds!"
The lyrebird, which Sir David Attenborough meets on a log in a dense forest in Australia, is the bird world's best mimic. It can imitate 12 other birds. It does the whirring of a camera's motor drive and the click of a shutter. It repeats the engine of a car, and the din of a car alarm. It can even imitate the screech of the chainsaw wielded by the loggers coming to cut down its habitat.
The Superb Lyrebird was
YOUR FAVOURiTE ATTENBOROUGH MOMENT
Video with guest wildlife presenter Bill Oddie
The Superb Lyrebird video clip was voted Britain's
Favourite Attenborough moment.
Remarkably, the talented lyrebird proved more popular than the legendary 1979 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla story. Sir David Attenborough discovered the very talented lyrebird while he was in Australia filming the 1998 series The Life Of Birds. The bird proceeded to perform an accurate imitation of a chainsaw, then gave a perfect rendition of the photographer's camera shutter and the crew's car engine and car alarm, as well as a dozen other bird impersonations.
::SUPERB LYREBiRD::facts::info::
(Menura
novaehollandiae)
DESCRiPTiON
The Superb Lyrebird looks like a large brown pheasant... The wings are reddish brown in colour and the
bill, legs and feet are black...
The adult male has an ornate tail, with special curved feathers that,
in display, assume the shape of a lyre
(an ancient Greek stringed musical instrument)... Superb
Lyrebirds measure 80 - 100 cm in length, with females smaller than males..with little power of flight.
The Superb Lyrebird's song consists of 80% expert mimicry, with both natural and mechanical sounds imitated and joined together in a rousing medley. Sounds can include anything heard in the bird's immediate surroundings, such as chainsaws, car engines, dog barks and local native birds. The Superb Lyrebird also emits a series of whistles and cackling notes that are used as territorial calls, as well as a loud alarm shriek.
The Superb Lyrebird occurs in the moist forests of the south-eastern Australian mainland and southern Tasmania. It is a ground-dwelling species, but roosts in trees at night. Birds are sedentary, rarely moving large distances and generally staying in a home-range about 10 km in diameter and feed on insects, spiders, worms and, occasionally, seeds.
Superb Lyrebirds breed in April to October each year The
male secures a territory, attracting potential mates by singing and
dancing on one of several mounds within it, while throwing the tail
forward over the body and shaking it in display. The male will mate
with several females. The female alone builds the nest, incubates the
eggs and cares for the young...
..for more information and
photos on this story visit the Australian Museum Online fact sheet..
..and visit The Aviary..
s H a M o Z z L e . c o m W o r l d W e b c a m W a t c h p r e s e n t s
::ANiMAL WEBCAM WATCH::
DID YOU KNOW?
The Superb Lyrebird is displayed on the Australian 10
cent coin
See Australian
Coins
The
vocal ability of birds has inspired
PBS LiFE of BIRDS
Imitating
or mimicking the calls of other species is one way that birds can be
more attractive to mates. They can also vary the order, sequence or
repetition of phrases to sound more variable. The most renowned vocal
mimics in the bird world include mockingbirds, starlings, mynahs, marsh
warbler, lyrebirds, bowerbirds, scrub-birds and African robin-chats.
Starlings in the Shetland islands in Scotland have been known to mimic
sheep; in Oxford, England, they mimic buses. The lyrebird, which Sir
David Attenborough meets on a log in a dense forest in Australia, is
the bird world's best mimic. It can imitate 12 other birds. It does the
whirring of a camera's motor drive and the click of a shutter. It
repeats the engine of a car, and the din of a car alarm. It can even
imitate the screech of the chainsaw wielded by the loggers coming to
cut down its habitat.
The
Superb Lyrebird is thought to have the loudest bird call in the world.
The bittern is not far behind. Its loud, booming call is one of the
farthest travelling of all bird songs. It calls relentlessly both day
and night from deep within the reed bed, hoping to attract a female
into his territory.
The
vocal skill of birds derive from the unusual structure of their
powerful vocal equipment. The syrinx is the sound-producing organ in
birds. It is the equivalent of the human sound box. The syrinx contains
membranes which vibrate and generate sound waves when air from the
lungs is passed over them. The muscles of the syrinx control the
details of song production; birds with more elaborate system of vocal
muscles produce more complex songs..
..Birds became the world's master
musicians in order to convey to potential mates, rivals and predators
all the important things they have to say, from "Clear off!" to "Come
on!"
for more on this
story visit the Life of Birds
merv.com.au
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