Song and Dance
I set a camera trap at a Superb Lyrebird display mound
over two weeks in July (13-31st) and was successful in recording
some wonderful song and dancing displays. Male lyrebirds display from a number
of display mounds within their territory and females are attracted to them by
the song first and then song and dance once they are visible as females
approach through the thick undergrowth. The repertoire of the bird’s mimicry of
other birds’ calls is, as its name suggests, superb, and enthralling. And how
he holds and spreads his elaborate tail feathers is just as mesmerising. Follow
this Video link
The females lay their eggs in winter, so these
displays are performed during the cold months and I have watched them display
in the snow. The males play no part in the nest building, incubation or tending
of the young. The sexes only meet up for the purpose of mating.
Superb Lyrebirds are famous for their mimicry and
although there are well-known film clips of birds imitating cameras and
chainsaws, most of the sounds that wild lyrebirds copy are of other local birds
that live in the same tall forests. I have only heard one bird imitate a
knocking sound that resembled someone hammering on wood, which the bird could
easily have heard in the forest. That bird was in the forest of the Brindabella
Range near Canberra, the same area where this footage was recorded. It is always
a pleasant walk along the tracks in the forest, where the lyrebirds can be
frequently heard, but seldom seen as they place their display mounds in dense
overgrowth. Hence the reason I deployed the camera, to see what was going on in
there…
Male superb lyrebirds sing four different song types with
unique associated sets of dance moves, but the individual birds vary their
songs and steps and they don’t always dance when they sing (Dalziell et al.
2013, below). As can be seen in this video, they also sing without even raising
their tail. The whole sequence of the different songs and dances is very
elaborate, but purposeful. As these displays form part of the sexual behaviour,
there is probably a strong impulse for the males to sing and dance their best
to attract a female.
Lyrebirds can sing with mimicry away from the mound, such as up on tree branches or logs, but they don’t give mimicry segments of their song while dancing. When singing his full repertoire of mimicry the male in the video stood quite still, and it was once he pulled his tail right over his back and head that he began to dance. This was induced by the presence of a female off camera, and he held that pose and dance sequence all the while a female was with him on or near the mound. In one sequence, he backs off the mound, followed by a female, perhaps, the birds copulated on another mound not far from the one where the camera was set. Each male hase several mounds where they display.
I have not yet worked out the complete list of the
bird calls that the lyrebird mimicked, but the main song, mixed with the
lyrebird’s own specific song, includes: Yellow-tailed Cockatoo, Laughing
Kookaburra, Pied Currawong, Crimson Rosella, Red Wattlebird, Satin Bowerbird
and Grey Shrike-thrush. During the intense dances when his tail is fully pulled
over, the bird does not mimic these calls, but gives a frantic array of buzzing
alarm calls, mimics of the alarm calls of the smaller ground dwelling birds
such as White-browed Scrubwren, Brown Thornbill and Eastern Yellow Robin. He
even mimics the burring of bird wings, such as when birds mob a predator.
For a more full explanation of Superb Lyrebird display see these papers by Anastasia Dalziell et al. upon which I have relied heavily in describing the details of the bird’s behaviour in this video.
Dalziell, A.H., Ppeters, R.A., Cockburn,A. Dorland, A.D., Maisey, A.C., & Magrath, R.D. (2013). Dance choreography is coordinated with song repertoire in a complex avian display. Current Biology 23: 1132-1135. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(13)00581-2.pdf
Dalziell, A.H., Maisey, A.C., Magrath, R.D., & Welbergen, J.A. (2021). Male lyrebirds create a complex acoustic illusion of a mobbing flock during courtship and copulation. Current Biology 31: 1970-1976. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(21)00210-4.pdf
Dalziell, A.H., Welbergen, J.A., & Magrath, R.D. (2022). Male superb lyrebirds mimic functionally distinct heterospecific vocalisations during different modes of sexual display. Animal Behaviour 188: 181-196. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/am/pii/S000334722200094X
