The Lyre Bird; Imitating sounds!

Yes this is truly one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on this earth. I have had the honour to hear the Lyrebird's song, though nothing as elaborate as that which Attenborough experienced! I am blessed to live in a country with such beautiful bird calls and songs 

I find the camera with a motor drive to be the most astonishing (on the clip), but have unfortunately not witnessed it in real life. I have, however, heard the Lyre Birds beaming out the calls of numerous other birds of the forest such as the:
Eastern Whipbird
Kookaburra
Cockatoo
Noisy Pitta
Pied Currawong
Bell Minor

They are such amazing birds! I will try and record something and put it on Youtube, though it is highly unlikely I could do this to much avail, so I will look out for other cool clips for everyone
 
- Knights -

you know DayI,  i wanted to show pictures of this bird before this thread was started...

so here it goes.

two close ups






in the dandenong forest a male dislaying its tail.

the link has some sounds also

http://photos.rnr.id.au/birds_lyrebird.html

front on


its on our 10c coin


some of their own calls for you to listen to (bonus -both species)
http://www.naturesongs.com/lyrebirds.html




Edited by Leonidas - 02-Apr-2007 at 08:55

I have heard that some people believed that Kangaroos hung around in urban areas around Australia, and are commonly seen bounding over the harbour bridge. May I ask if anyone thinks this is the case?
There mightn't be any kangaroos in the city, but there are still plenty of animals living in urban/rural areas...Koalas...Rosellas...Possums
It's lovely to border a forest, right in the middle of the suburbs - to hear the birds singing.

Oh yes, and just for reference, there are two lyrebird species:

Superb Lyrebird - the one featured in the clip, far more well known and beautiful


And the Albert's Lyrebird. Poor soul gets ignored. These are a more chestnut colour, and their tail plumes aren't as extravagant as the Superb.

hey knights i came across some nice photo's of the alberts lyrebird when searching for the other post,  cant find them now.

here is a male doing his stuff (i think they have a nicer colour)



Google VIDEO version of DayI's footage




Edited by Leonidas - 07-Apr-2007 at 02:08

peacocks are for rich mans gardens. there is a green one to (three sub species), kinda of the peafowl version of the alberts lyrebird, everyone sees the blue ones and wows over the whites.



In the end, im always going to be biased to our natives

Edited by Leonidas - 07-Apr-2007 at 04:18

even my whole familywas very impressed.

Great News! Today I was driving (learning, of course ) out near Wiseman's Ferry, for all you Sydney-siders. For everyone else, Wiseman's Ferry and the surrounding area is bushland/mountain ranges. Now, If you have been there you would know there is a very steep hill leading down to/up from Wiseman's. It was on this hill this afternoon that I caught sight of a lyrebird! It was very exciting for me, as I only see them at the zoo - never in the wild. It was actually in the middle of the road, and promptly scurried of to the side (where a small rock face was) and it sort of stumbled up and carried on its merry way.
It was definitely a Superb lyrebird, judging from the tail feathers (male) and colouration. I did not hear it unfortunately, and really wanted to stop and go take some photos/video (I had my video camera and digital camera with me), though my parents urged me to keep driving
Anyway, twas exciting nevertheless, and I will try get some photos next time I'm go through their exhibit at the zoo.

- Knights -

congrats knights! you normally wouldn't spot one of those so close to Sydney but Wisemens is far enough out, to have kangaroos.  i was out those ways, last weekend for a wedding at a  golf course resort, eastern grey's everywhere.

Red, peacocks are great to look at but maybe you should invest in a sling shot

Edited by Leonidas - 09-Apr-2007 at 00:31

Unbelievable - crazy that they can imitate almost any kind of sound - that chainsaw and camera sound sounds 100% real.