Editing Lyrebird

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{For|the 2019 film|Lyrebird (film)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2013}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Lyrebird
| fossil_range = [[Early Miocene]] to present
| image =  Superb lyrbird in scrub.jpg
| image_caption = [[Superb lyrebird]] (''Menura novaehollandiae'')
| parent_authority = [[René-Primevère Lesson|Lesson]], 1828
| taxon = Menura
| authority = [[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]], 1801
| type_species = ''[[Superb lyrebird|Menura novaehollandiae]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=114 |title= Menuridae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-16}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Latham 1801
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
* ''[[Superb lyrebird|Menura novaehollandiae]]''
* ''[[Albert's lyrebird|Menura alberti]]''
* †''[[Menura tyawanoides]]''
}}

A '''lyrebird''' is either of two [[species]] of ground-dwelling [[Birds of Australia|Australian]] birds that compose the genus '''''Menura''''', and the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Menuridae'''.<ref name="IOU">{{cite web |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/lyrebirds/ |title=Lyrebirds, scrubbirds, bowerbirds, Australasian treecreepers, Australasian wrens |editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank |editor-link1= Frank Gill (ornithologist) |editor2-last=Donsker |editor2-first=David |editor3-last=Rasmussen |editor3-first=Pamela |editor-link3= Pamela Rasmussen |year=2023 |work=World Bird List Version 13.1  |publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=5 June 2023 }}</ref> They are most notable for their impressive ability to [[mimicry|mimic]] natural and artificial sounds from their environment, and the striking beauty of the male bird's huge tail when it is fanned out in courtship display.  Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral-coloured tailfeathers and are among Australia's best-known native birds.

== Taxonomy ==
[[File:Menura superba - Thomas Davies.jpg|thumb|left|''Menura superba'' – superb lyrebird (1800) by [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]]]]

The classification of lyrebirds was the subject of much debate after the first specimens reached European scientists after 1798. Based on specimens sent from [[New South Wales]] to England, Major-General [[Thomas Davies (British Army officer)|Thomas Davies]] illustrated and described this species as the [[superb lyrebird]], which he called ''Menura superba'', in an 1800 presentation to the [[Linnean Society of London]], but this work was not published until 1802;<ref>{{cite book|last=Davies|first=Thomas|chapter=[[s:Transactions of the Linnean Society of London/Volume 6/Description of Menura superba, a bird of New South Wales|Description of ''Menura superba'', a Bird of New South Wales]]|title=Transactions of the Linnean Society|location=London|publication-date=1802|date=4 November 1800|pages=207–10|volume=6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Lyre-Bird}}</ref> in the intervening time period, however, the species was described and named ''Menura novaehollandiae'' by John Latham in 1801, and this is the accepted name by virtue of [[Principle of Priority|nomenclatural priority]].

The genus name ''Menura'' refers to the pattern of repeated transparent crescents (or "lunules") on the superb lyrebird's outer tail-feathers, from the [[Ancient Greek]] words {{lang|el|μήνη}} ''mēnē'' "moon" and {{lang|el|ουρά}} ''ourá'' "tail".<ref name=Helm>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling| title=Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird-names|last=Jobling |first=James A. |year=2010 |location=London, United Kingdom |publisher=Christopher Helm |isbn=978-1-4081-3326-2 |pages=250 |oclc=659731768 }}</ref>

Lyrebirds are named because their outer tail feathers are broad and curved in a S shape that together resemble the shape of a [[lyre]].<ref name="Reilly">{{Cite book |last=Reilly |first=Pauline N. | year=1988 |title=The Lyrebird: a natural history |location=Kensington, New South Wales, Australia |publisher=New South Wales University Press |isbn = 9780868401874}}</ref>{{rp|2, 18}} 

=== Systematics ===
Lyrebirds were thought to be [[Galliformes]] like the broadly similar looking [[partridge]], [[junglefowl]], and [[pheasant]]s familiar to Europeans, reflected in the early names given to the superb lyrebird, including native pheasant. They were also called peacock-wrens and Australian birds-of-paradise. The idea that they were related to the pheasants was abandoned when the first chicks, which are [[altricial]], were described. They were not classed with the passerines until a paper was published in 1840, twelve years after they were assigned a discrete family, Menuridae. Within that family they compose a single genus, ''Menura''.<ref name = "HBW">{{Citation | first = Alan | last = Lill | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-first = David | editor3-last = Christie | contribution = Family Menuridae (Lyrebirds) | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 9, Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails | year = 2004 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 484–495] | place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 84-87334-69-5 | url = https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0001unse/page/484 }}</ref>

It is generally accepted that the lyrebird family is most closely related to the [[scrubland|scrub]]-birds ([[Atrichornithidae]]) and some authorities combine both in a single family, but evidence that they are also related to the [[bowerbird]]s remains controversial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Christidis |first1=L. |last2=Norman |first2=J.A. |year=1996 |title=Molecular Perspectives on the Phylogenetic Affinities of Lyrebirds (Menuridae) and Treecreepers (Climacteridae) |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |publisher=CSIRO Publishing |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=215–222 |doi=10.1071/zo9960215}}</ref>

Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals: the [[Australian Museum]] has fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pulseplanet.com/archive/Dec02/2810.html |title=Lyrebird: Overview |author=Boles, Walter |year=2011 |publisher=Pulse of the Planet |access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> The prehistoric ''[[Menura tyawanoides]]'' has been described from Early [[Miocene]] [[fossil]]s found at the famous [[Australian Fossil Mammal Sites (Riversleigh)|Riversleigh]] site.<ref name="Boles fossil">{{cite journal |last=Boles |first=Walter E. |title=A preliminary analysis of the Passeriformes from Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia, with the description of a new species of Lyrebird |journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg |year=1995 |volume=181 |pages=163–170 |url=http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/research/files/Boles%20(1995)%20A%20preliminary%20analysis%20of%20the%20Passeriformes%20fro.PDF}}</ref>

===Species===
Two species of lyrebird are extant:
{{Species table |genus= Menura |authority-name= [[John Latham (ornithologist)|Latham]] |authority-year= 1801|species-count=two|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row
|name=Superb lyrebird called ''weringerong'', ''woorail'', and ''bulln-bulln'' in [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Aboriginal languages]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reed |first=A.W. |author-link=Alexander Wyclif Reed |title=Aboriginal Words of Australia |pages=17; 34 |year=1998 |publisher=New Holland |location=Chatswood, NSW |isbn=978-1-876334-16-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJrICbfAmJ0C|access-date=3 October 2011 }}</ref> |binomial=[[Menura novaehollandiae]]
|image=File:Superb lyrbird in scrub.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Latham|authority-year= 1801 |authority-not-original=
|range= south-eastern Australia, from southern Victoria to south-eastern Queensland
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=one of the world's largest songbirds, and is noted for its elaborate tail and excellent mimicry
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Three subspecies |bullets=on
|''M. n. edwardi''
|''M. n. novaehollandiae''
|''M. n. victoriae''
}}
}}

{{Species table/row
|name=Albert's lyrebird or Northern lyrebird|binomial=[[Menura alberti]]
|image=File:Albert's lyrebird.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=
|authority-name=Bonaparte |authority-year=1850 |authority-not-original=
|range= between New South Wales and Queensland, Australia
|range-image=
|range-image-size=180px
|size=Named in honour of [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]], the husband of [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]
|habitat=
|hunting=
|iucn-status= LC
|population=
|direction=
|subspecies=
}}
{{Species table/end}}

==Description==
[[File:Lyrebird Albert f 20091125 flash.JPG|thumb|Female Albert's lyrebird]]
The lyrebirds are large [[passerine]] birds, amongst the largest in the order. They are ground living birds with strong legs and feet and short rounded wings. They are poor fliers and rarely fly except for periods of downhill gliding.<ref name = "HBW"/> The superb lyrebird is the larger of the two species. Lyrebirds measure 31 to 39 inches in length, including their tail. Males tend to be slightly larger than females. Females weigh around 2 pounds, and males weigh around 2.4 pounds.

==Distribution and habitat==
The superb lyrebird is found in areas of rainforest in [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]], [[New South Wales]], and south-east [[Queensland]].  It is also found in [[Tasmania]] where it was introduced in the 19th century. Many superb lyrebirds live in the [[Dandenong Ranges National Park]] and [[Kinglake National Park]] around [[Melbourne]], the [[Royal National Park]] and [[Illawarra]] region south of Sydney, in many other parks along the east coast of Australia, and non protected bushland. Albert's lyrebird is found only in a small area of [[Queensland|Southern Queensland]] [[rainforest]].

==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>

==Status and conservation==
Until the [[2019–2020 Australian bushfire season]], superb lyrebirds were not considered threatened in the short to medium term. Concern has since grown as early analyses have shown the extent of destruction of the lyrebird's preferred wet-forest habitats, which in less intense previous bushfire seasons have been spared, in large part due to their moisture content.<ref name="abc_20191206">{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-27/bushfires-devastate-ancient-forests-and-rare-wildlife/11733956 |title=Bushfires devastate rare and enchanting wildlife as 'permanently wet' forests burn for first time |last=Arnold |first=Ann |date=6 December 2019 |publisher=ABC News |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120175714/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-27/bushfires-devastate-ancient-forests-and-rare-wildlife/11733956 |archive-date=20 January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Albert's lyrebird has a very restricted habitat and had been listed as [[vulnerable species|vulnerable]] by the [[IUCN]], but because the species and its habitat were carefully managed, the species was re-assessed to [[near threatened]] in 2009.<ref name="IUCN Albert">{{cite web|last=BirdLife International|author-link=BirdLife International|title=''Menura alberti''|url=http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/106005161/0|work=IUCN Red List|publisher=IUCN|access-date=18 November 2011|year=2009}}</ref> The superb lyrebird had already been seriously threatened by [[habitat destruction]] in the past. Its population had since recovered, but the 2019–2020 bushfires damaged much of its habitat, which may lead to a reclassification of its status from "common" to "threatened".<ref name="guardian_20200124">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/24/lyrebird-threatened-species-scale-bird-habitat-bushfires-emerges |title=Lyrebird may join threatened species, as scale of bird habitat lost to bushfires emerges |last=Morton |first=Adam |date=24 January 2020 |website=The Guardian |access-date=25 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124104235/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/24/lyrebird-threatened-species-scale-bird-habitat-bushfires-emerges |archive-date=24 January 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Beyond this new threat are the long-term vulnerabilities to predation by [[cat]]s and [[fox]]es, as well as human population pressure on its habitat.<ref name = "HBW"/>

== In culture ==
=== Painting by John Gould ===
[[File:Lyre bird.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|[[John Gould]]'s early 1800s painting of a [[superb lyrebird]] specimen at the [[British Museum]]]]

The lyrebird is so called because the male bird has a spectacular tail, consisting of 16 highly modified [[feather]]s (two long slender ''lyrates'' at the centre of the plume, two broader ''medians'' on the outside edges and twelve ''filamentaries'' arrayed between them), which was originally thought to resemble a [[lyre]]. This happened when a superb lyrebird specimen (which had been taken from Australia to [[England]] during the early 19th century) was prepared for display at the [[British Museum]] by a [[taxidermy|taxidermist]] who had never seen a live lyrebird. The taxidermist mistakenly thought that the tail would resemble a lyre, and that the tail would be held in a similar way to that of a [[peacock]] during [[courtship display]], and so he arranged the feathers in this way. Later, [[John Gould]] (who had also never seen a live lyrebird), painted the lyrebird from the British Museum specimen.

The male lyrebird's tail is not held as in John Gould's painting. Instead, the male lyrebird's tail is fanned over the lyrebird during courtship display, with the tail completely covering his head and back—as can be seen in the image in the "[[#Breeding|breeding]]" section of this page, and also the image of the 10-cent coin, where the superb lyrebird's tail (in courtship display) is portrayed accurately.

=== Lyrebird emblems and logos ===
[[File:Australia-Stamp-1932-Lyrebird.jpg|thumb|75px|Superb lyrebird on a 1932 Australian postage stamp.]]

The lyrebird has been featured as a symbol and emblem many times, especially in [[New South Wales]] and [[Victoria (state)|Victoria]] (where the superb lyrebird has its natural habitat), and in [[Queensland]] (where Albert's lyrebird has its natural habitat).

* A male superb lyrebird is featured on the [[obverse and reverse|reverse]] of the [[Australian ten-cent coin|Australian 10-cent coin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ramint.gov.au/designs/ram-designs/10c.cfm|title=Ten cents|access-date=24 April 2013 |publisher=Royal Australian Mint}}</ref>
* A superb lyrebird featured on the Australian one shilling postage stamp first issued in 1932.
* A stylised superb lyrebird appears in the transparent window of the [[Australian 100 dollar note]].
* A silhouette of a male superb lyrebird is the logo of the [[Australian Film Commission]].
* An illustration of a male superb lyrebird, in courtship display, is the emblem of the [[New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service]].
* The pattern on the curtains of the [[Victorian State Theatre]] is the image of a male superb lyrebird, in courtship display, as viewed from the front.
* A stylised illustration of a male Albert's lyrebird was the logo of the [[Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University|Queensland Conservatorium of Music]], before the Conservatorium became part of [[Griffith University]]. In the logo, the top part of the lyrebird's tail became a music [[Staff (music)|stave]].
* Australian band [[You Am I]]'s 2008 album ''[[Dilettantes (album)|Dilettantes]]'' and its first single, "[[Erasmus (song)|Erasmus]]", feature a drawing of a lyrebird by artist Ken Taylor.
* A stylised illustration of part of a male superb lyrebird's tail is the logo for the [[Lyrebird Arts Council]] of Victoria.
* The lyrebird is also featured atop the crest of Panhellenic Sorority [[Alpha Chi Omega]], whose symbol is the lyre.
* There are many other companies with the name of ''Lyrebird'', and these also have lyrebird logos.
* "Land of the Lyrebird" is an alternative name for the [[Strzelecki Ranges]] in the [[Gippsland]] region of Victoria.
* A silhouetted male superb lyrebird in courtship display features in the masthead of ''[[The Betoota Advocate]]''.

==See also==
* ''[[The Display]]''

==References==
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{{Reflist}}

==Further references==
* Attenborough, D. (1998). ''The Life of Birds''. p.&nbsp;212. {{ISBN|0563-38792-0}}.

==External links==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Lyre-bird}}
* [http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/Lyrebirds.htm Lyrebirds]—At the New South Wales Department of Environment and Heritage site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060507061311/http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/wildlife/threatened_plants_and_animals/endangered/the_alberts_lyrebird_project/ The Albert's lyrebird project] at the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management site
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/lyrebirds-menuridae Lyrebird videos] at the Internet Bird Collection
* National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (Sounds of Australia) recording of a [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/superb-lyrebird-imitating-workers superb lyrebird imitating workers]

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[[Category:Endemic birds of Australia]]
[[Category:Menuridae| ]]
[[Category:Mimicry]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Latham (ornithologist)]]