Superb Lyrebird

The Superb Lyrebird is one of the world's most extraordinary songbirds, a large, pheasant-like ground dweller of southeastern Australia's cool, moist forests. It is best known for two things: the male's spectacular tail, which in full display fans out into a shimmering lyre-shaped silhouette of lacy plumes, and its unmatched talent for vocal mimicry.

Both sexes are mostly dull grey-brown above with a rufous throat and warm cinnamon wash on the wings, built low to the ground with strong legs for scratching through leaf litter. Females and young males lack the elaborate tail, carrying instead a long, plain brownish tail. The male's mature tail comprises sixteen feathers, including two outer lyrate feathers with dark bars, and delicate lace-like and filamentary plumes that are thrown up and forward over the body during courtship display, appearing as a silvery, quivering veil.

Despite its size and remarkable appearance, the Superb Lyrebird is a shy, ground-hugging bird that runs rather than flies when disturbed, and can be very difficult to see well even where common, though its loud song often gives its presence away.

Key field marks

• Large, dark brown-grey, chicken-sized ground bird with a long neck and small head
• Rufous-chestnut throat and undertail patch
• Male's tail, when folded, is long and drooping; in full courtship display it fans into an unmistakable lyre shape
• Strong grey legs and feet adapted for scratching in soil and leaf litter
• Moves with a crouched, quail-like gait, often flicking leaf litter aside while foraging

Similar species

No other Australian bird has a comparable tail or shape. Female and immature birds without the ornate tail can superficially resemble a large, dark ground-feeding bird such as a scrubwren or logrunner from a distance, but their much larger size and long tail carriage are distinctive. Albert's Lyrebird is similar but found only in a small area of subtropical rainforest on the NSW-Queensland border, is slightly smaller, more reddish-brown, and the male's tail lacks the paired lyrate outer feathers, instead forming a plumed arch when displayed.

Habitat

Superb Lyrebirds favour the dim, damp understorey of temperate and cool rainforest, wet eucalypt forest, and fern-choked gullies, where deep leaf litter provides abundant invertebrate prey and dense cover for concealment.

Range

The species occurs along the Great Dividing Range and coastal forests of southeastern Australia, from southern Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria, with an introduced population established in Tasmania.

Migration

Superb Lyrebirds are sedentary and highly territorial, occupying the same home range year-round; they do not migrate, though some local movement to lower elevations may occur in severe winter weather.

Behavior

Lyrebirds spend most of their time on the ground, using their powerful feet to rake through leaf litter in search of food, and rarely fly except to reach a roost or display mound. Males build and maintain several earthen display mounds within their territory, visiting each in turn to sing and dance.

Voice

The Superb Lyrebird possesses one of the most complex voices of any bird. Its own song is a loud, ringing series of notes, but it is equally famous for near-perfect mimicry of other birds' calls, as well as mechanical and human-made sounds it has encountered in its environment. Males sing almost continuously through the cooler months, especially at dawn, to defend territory and attract mates.

Feeding

It forages by scratching through soil and leaf litter with alternating feet, uncovering worms, beetles, spiders, and other invertebrates.

Nesting and breeding

Breeding is polygynous; males display alone on their mounds while females build a large, domed nest of sticks and bark lined with feathers, usually in a sheltered site such as a rock ledge, tree fern, or bank. The female alone incubates a single egg and raises the chick with no help from the male.