Monday, July 13, 2009

Superb Lyre Bird.


This bird is one of the largest known passerine birds (songbirds) on the planet. And these native Australian birds are easily the champions of this avian category. While all birds have unique calls, this one goes above and beyond. Like a mockingbird, it can perform calls of other birds it might hear over the course of its lifetime. What's so unique about the lyre bird is that they mimic almost any sound it hears, not just birds. The larger the repertoire, the more impressive it is to a female. It's also telling of its lifetime experience, which is interesting from a research perspective. From its calls, you can tell how much interaction they've had with humans -- for example, they'll pick up sounds of bulldozers, chainsaws, cameras, car horns, you name it.

They are called "Lyre" birds because of their tail feather structure -- the ends curl out and form the shape of a musical lyre.

It also has awesome tailfeathers to shake around to impress the ladies.

Here's a video, featuring the one and only, David Attenborough.



No comments:

Post a Comment