Editing Lyrebird (section)

==Behaviour and ecology==
Lyrebirds are shy and difficult to approach, particularly the Albert's lyrebird, with the result that little information about its behaviour has been documented. When lyrebirds detect potential danger, they pause and scan the surroundings, sound an alarm, and either flee the area on foot, or seek cover and freeze.<ref name = "HBW"/> Firefighters sheltering in mine shafts during [[Bushfires in Australia|bushfires]] have been joined by lyrebirds.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Parish |first1=Steve |author-link=Steve Parish |last2=Slater |first2=Pat |year=1997 |title=Amazing Facts About Australian Birds |location=Oxley, QLD |publisher=Steve Parish Publishing |isbn=1-875932-34-8 }}{{page needed|date=October 2011}}</ref>

===Diet and feeding===
[[File:Albert's Lyrebird OR.ogv|thumb|Albert's lyrebird]]

Lyrebirds feed on the ground and as individuals. A range of invertebrate prey is taken, including [[insect]]s such as [[cockroach]]es, [[beetle]]s (both adults and larvae), [[earwigs]], fly larvae, and the adults and larvae of moths. Other prey taken includes [[centipede]]s, [[spider]]s, [[earthworm]]s. Less commonly taken prey includes stick insects, bugs, [[amphipod]]s, [[lizard]]s, frogs and occasionally, [[seed]]s. They find food by scratching with their feet through the [[leaf]]-litter.<ref name = "HBW"/>

Mixing and aerating soil and leaf litter while scratching for food amounts to a form of ecosystem engineering, or farming; foraging by superb lyrebirds has been shown to thus create microhabitats which nurture larger and more abundant prey.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maisey |first=Alex C. |last2=Haslem |first2=Angie |last3=Bennett |first3=Andrew F. |date=March 4, 2025 |title=Foraging activity by an ecosystem engineer, the superb lyrebird, ‘farms’ its invertebrate prey |url=https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70009 |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |language= |volume= |issue= |doi=10.1111/1365-2656.70009 |issn=1365-2656|doi-access=free |pmc=12056342 }}</ref> This activity also improves forest health by burying potential wildfire fuel and by measurably increasing the diversity of invertebrates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ortiz |first=Cristina |date=2025-03-10 |title=Australian lyrebirds have a hidden skill for farming |url=https://earthsky.org/earth/australian-lyrebirds-farming-skill-little-draw-in-prey/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=earthsky.org |language=en-US}}</ref> Such positive effects cover millions of hectares of land.<ref>{{Cite web |last=La Trobe University |first= |date=March 2025 |title=Iconic lyrebird reveals hidden farming talent |url=https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2025/release/iconic-australian-bird-reveals-hidden-farming-tale |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=www.latrobe.edu.au |language=en-AU}}</ref>

===Breeding===
[[File:Superb Lyrebird mound dance.jpg|thumb|left|Superb lyrebird in courtship display]]

Lyrebirds are long-lived birds that can live as long as 30 years. They have long breeding cycles and start breeding later in life than other passerine birds. Female superb lyrebirds start breeding at the age of five or six, and males at the age of six to eight. Males defend territories from other males, and those territories may contain the breeding territories of up to eight females. Within the male territories, the males create or use display platforms; for the superb lyrebird, this is a mound of bare soil; for the Albert's lyrebird, it is a pile of twigs on the forest floor.<ref name = "HBW"/>

Male lyrebirds call mostly during winter, when they construct and maintain an open arena-mound in dense [[The Bush|bush]], on which they sing and dance<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dalziell |first1=Anastasia |last2=Peters |first2=Richard |last3=Cockburn |first3=Andrew |last4=Dorland |first4=Alexandra |last5=Maisey |first5=Alex |last6=Magrath |first6=Robert |title=Dance choreography is coordinated with song repertoire in a complex avian display |journal=Current Biology |year=2013 |volume=23 |issue=12 |pages=1132–1135|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2013.05.018 |pmid=23746637 |s2cid=1036613 |doi-access=free }}</ref> in an elaborate [[courtship display]] performed for potential mates, of which the male lyrebird has several. The strength, volume, and location of the nest built by the female lyrebird is dependent on the rainfall and predation during the nest building period. It is important for the nest to be water resistant and hidden in secluded areas so predators cannot attack. Once the nest is made in the preferred location, the female lyrebird lays a single [[Bird egg|egg]]. The egg is [[Avian incubation|incubated]] over 50 days solely by the female, and the female also fosters the chick alone.

===Vocalizations and mimicry===
[[File:Superb lyrebird mimicking Australian native birds.ogg|thumb|Superb lyrebird mimicking Australian native birds]]

A lyrebird's [[bird vocalization|song]] is one of the more distinctive aspects of its behavioural biology. Lyrebirds sing throughout the year, but the peak of the breeding season, from June to August, is when they sing with the most intensity. During this peak males may sing for four hours of the day, almost half the hours of daylight. The song of the lyrebird is a mixture of elements of its own song and mimicry of other species. Lyrebirds render with great fidelity the individual songs of other birds<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Putland |first1=D.A. |last2=Nicholls |first2=J.A. |last3=Noad |first3=M.J. |last4=Goldizen |first4=A.W. |title=Imitating the neighbours: vocal dialect matching in a mimic-model system |journal=Biology Letters |date=2006 |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=367–370 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2006.0502 |pmid=17148405 |pmc=1686190 }}</ref><ref name="Mimetic song in superb lyrebirds: s">{{cite journal |last1=Zann |first1=Richard |last2=Dunstan |first2=Emily |title=Mimetic song in superb lyrebirds: species mimicked and mimetic accuracy in different populations and age classes |journal=Animal Behaviour |date=2008 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=1043–1054|doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.05.021 |s2cid=53170532 }}</ref><ref name="FE">{{cite journal |last1=Dalziell |first1=Anastasia |last2=Magrath |first2=Robert |title=Fooling the experts: accurate vocal mimicry in the song of the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae |journal=Animal Behaviour |year=2012 |volume=83 |issue=6 |pages=1401–1410 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.03.009|s2cid=53145329 }}</ref> and the chatter of flocks of birds,<ref name="Male lyrebirds create a complex aco">{{cite journal |last1=Dalziell |first1=Anastasia |last2=Maisey |first2=Alex |last3=Magrath |first3=Robert |last4=Welbergen |first4=Justin |title=Male lyrebirds create a complex acoustic illusion of a mobbing flock during courtship and copulation |journal=Current Biology |year=2021 |volume=31 |issue=9 |pages=1970–1976 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.02.003|pmid=33636120 |s2cid=232051050 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Wild Lyrebird Dancing and Singing – Amazing Lyre Birds of Australia|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnzPQa-Xho8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/SnzPQa-Xho8| archive-date=2021-12-11 | url-status=live|language=en|access-date=2021-06-08}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and also mimic other animals such as possums,<ref name="Male lyrebirds create a complex aco"/> [[koala]]s and [[dingo]]es.<ref name = "HBW"/> Lyrebirds have been recorded mimicking human sounds<ref>{{Cite web|title=Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw! Now in high quality {{!}} BBC Earth| website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSB71jNq-yQ|language=en|access-date=2021-06-08}}</ref> such as a mill whistle, a cross-cut saw, [[chainsaw]]s, [[car engine]]s and [[car alarm]]s, [[fire|fire alarms]], [[rifle]]-shots, [[camera]] shutters, [[dog]]s barking, crying babies, music, mobile phone ring tones, and even the human voice. However, while the mimicry of human noises is widely reported, the extent to which it happens is exaggerated.<ref name = "HBW"/> Parts of the lyrebird's own song can resemble human-made [[sound effect]]s, which has given rise to the [[urban legend]] that they frequently imitate video game or film sounds.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-07-28|title=Lyre, lyre, pants on fire: The truth about one of our showiest songbirds|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-07-28/lyrebird-myths-busted-bird-calls/11342208|access-date=2020-10-23|publisher=ABC News|language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Taylor|first=Hollis|title=Lyrebirds mimicking chainsaws: fact or lie?|url=http://theconversation.com/lyrebirds-mimicking-chainsaws-fact-or-lie-22529|access-date=2020-10-23|website=The Conversation|language=en}}</ref>

The superb lyrebird's mimicked calls are learned from the local environment, including from other superb lyrebirds. An instructive example is the population of superb lyrebirds in Tasmania, which have retained the calls of species not native to Tasmania in their repertoire, with some local Tasmanian endemic bird songs added. The female lyrebirds of both species are also mimics capable of complex vocalisations. Superb lyrebird females are silent during courtship; however, they regularly produce sophisticated vocal displays during foraging and nest defense.<ref name="Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by">{{cite journal |last1=Welbergen |first1=Justin A. |last2=Dalziell |first2=Anastasia H. |date=20 April 2016 |title= Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by Female Superb Lyrebirds |journal= Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=4 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2016.00034 |doi-access=free }}</ref> A recording of a superb lyrebird mimicking sounds of an electronic shooting game, workmen and chainsaws was added to the [[National Film and Sound Archive]]'s [[Sounds of Australia]] registry in 2013.<ref>National Film and Sound Archive: [http://nfsa.gov.au/collection/sound/sounds-australia/complete-list/ Sounds of Australia].</ref>

Both species of lyrebird produced elaborate lyrebird-specific vocalisations including 'whistle songs'.<ref name="Mimetic song in superb lyrebirds: s"/><ref name="Elaborate Mimetic Vocal Displays by"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Backhouse |first1=Fiona |last2=Dalziell |first2=Anastasia H. |last3=Magrath |first3=Robert D. |last4=Rice |first4=Aaron N. |last5=Crisologo |first5=Taylor L. |last6=Welbergen |first6=Justin A. |title=Differential geographic patterns in song components of male Albert's lyrebirds |journal=Ecology and Evolution |date=2021 |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=2701–2716 |doi=10.1002/ece3.7225 |pmid=33767830 |pmc=7981226 }}</ref> Males also sing songs specifically associated with their song and dance displays.

One researcher, Sydney Curtis, has recorded flute-like lyrebird calls in the vicinity of the [[New England National Park]]. Similarly, in 1969, a park ranger, Neville Fenton, recorded a lyrebird song which resembled flute sounds in the New England National Park, near Dorrigo in northern coastal New South Wales. After much detective work by Fenton, it was discovered that in the 1930s, a flute player living on a farm adjoining the park used to play tunes near his pet lyrebird. The lyrebird adopted the tunes into his repertoire, and retained them after release into the park. Neville Fenton forwarded a tape of his recording to [[Frank Norman Robinson|Norman Robinson]]. Because a lyrebird is able to carry two tunes at the same time, Robinson filtered out one of the tunes and put it on the phonograph for the purposes of analysis. One witness suggested that the song represents a modified version of two popular tunes in the 1930s: "The Keel Row" and "Mosquito's Dance". Musicologist David Rothenberg has endorsed this information.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4206 |title=In conversation with David Rothenberg |author=Sheridan, Molly |year=2005 |publisher=NewMusicBox.org |access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reilly |first=P. N. |author-link=Pauline Neura Reilly |year=1988 |title=The Lyrebird: A Natural History |publisher=New South Wales University Press |location=Kensington, NSW |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gYM_AAAAYAAJ&q=Keel%20Row 47] |isbn= 0-86840-083-1 }}</ref> However, a "flute lyrebird" research group (including Curtis and Fenton) formed to investigate the veracity of this story found no evidence of "Mosquito Dance" and only remnants of "Keel Row" in contemporary and historical lyrebird recordings from this area. Neither were they able to prove that a lyrebird chick had been a pet, although they acknowledged compelling evidence on both sides of the argument.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Powys |first1=Vicki |last2=Taylor |first2=Hollis |last3=Probets |first3=Carol |date=2013 |title=A Little Flute Music: Mimicry, Memory, and Narrativity |url=http://environmentalhumanities.dukejournals.org/content/3/1/43 |journal=Environmental Humanities |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=43–70 |doi=10.1215/22011919-3611230 |issn=2201-1919 |doi-access=free}}</ref>