Menura novaehollandiae

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Family

Menuridae

Genus

Menura

Species

novaehollandiae

Common Names

Superb Lyrebird, Lyrebird, Native Pheasant

Distinguishing Features

The Suburb Lyrebird is a unique-looking species. It is 75-95cm in size, with a small head, a fairly long neck and strong legs and feet. The head and body are grey and wings are rusty-red coloured. Males have extremely long tail feathers. Two of the tail feathers are red-brown, with white patches and curved, while the others have a shimmery silver appearance. Females are smaller and similar except for their tail, which is shorter with plain brown feathers.

Survey Techniques

Call and visual identification.

Species Call

A large range of the clearest and most powerful mimicry of other birds and natural or manmade sounds.

Similar Species

Pilotbirds (Pycnoptilus floccusus) are small birds that are strongly associated with this species, as the occurrence of one indicates the presence of the other. The Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti) is an almost identical red-brown coloured species found only in coastal south QLD.

Distribution

This species is only found in the southeastern areas of mainland Australia, from northern NSW down to eastern VIC. Some are also found in southern TAS.

Country of Origin

Australia

Conservation (Pet/Pest) Status - Regional

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve has long been known for its population of Suburb Lyrebirds. After the 2003 bushfires the species was almost lost, however 2006 surveys show numbers are slowly rising again.

Conservation (Pet/Pest) Status - National

Secure, not listed under the EPBC Act 1999. It is common within its range where habitat remains intact and rare in TAS.

LSCCES Population

Suburb Lyrebirds are rare to this area and the birds seen in the gullies of Black Mountain during the survey period were likely to be refugees from the 2003 Canberra bushfires.

Associated vegetation community

This species is only found in rainforest or wet eucalypt forest, spending time within damp, tree-ferned gullies.

Limiting Resources

This ground dwelling species is sedentary, needing thick ground vegetation and cannot easily travel if its habitat area is threatened by land clearing.

Breeding

The male bird chooses an appropriate nesting territory autumn. After breeding in May, the female takes the sole responsibility of building the nest, incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks. The nest is a bulky and untidy mound of twigs built into crevices or hollowed tree stumps. The one egg is large and grey with light speckles, needing 40-45 days incubation.

Behaviour

The male bird is famous for his beautiful displays. He builds a mound of dirt and leaf litter as a platform on which to show off his long, ornate tail and to sing.  During the day, birds can be seen foraging on the ground. During the night they roost in trees. Both males and females have a famous ability to mimic any sounds they hear, including the sounds of distant chainsaws.

Functional Group

Omnivore

Food Species

Supurb Lyrebirds forage through ground litter for insects, worms, spiders and some seeds.

Predators

European Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and feral Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and Cats (Felis catus) may attack this species within the forests.

Interesting Fact

It is suspected that some Superb Lyrebirds survived the intense bushfires through Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve by hiding down Wombat (Vombatus ursinus) burrows.