27 September 2024

When Australia’s Bowen Mountain posted a superb lyrebird video on Facebook it prompted me to look into what this bird is up to.

Male superb lyrebirds (Menura novaehollandiae) are fantastic mimics who sing and shake their tail feathers to attract a female. Their elaborate tails normally stream out behind them, shown above, but during the courtship season in June to August the male throws his tail over his head like an umbrella and sings his heart out.

If the male’s song is pleasing, a female will show up to watch.

She doesn’t look for nurturing traits in the male, just great moves and a great song. Nest building and parental care are completely her responsibility.

The female lays one egg that takes 50 days to hatch and cares for her young until they are independent 8-9 months after they fledge. The young won’t be ready to breed until the females are 5-6 years old and the males are 6-8 years old.

With such long waits for everything from hatching to maturity, superb lyebirds live a long time if they can escape predation. Birds of the World reports that the oldest identifiable individual was 25–26 years old.

Fifteen years ago David Attenborough filmed an amazing lyrebird singing like a chainsaw. Considering the longevity of lyrebirds, this one might still be alive and courting today.