I lived on Tamborine Mountain for 21 years from 1970 until 1991 and one
of my passions was following Albert's Lyrebirds which I did most winters
as soon as the males started singing. We had formed a group on the
Mountain - Tamborine Field Naturalists - and during that time, we did an
annual count of singing males through the winter months. There seemed to
be a constant number of around 23 males which did not vary much in
number over the 21 years. I am not sure if the count continued after I
left the Mountain.
Syd (Curtis) employed me in the early 1970s at one stage through
National Parks to locate nests of Albert's Lyrebird on Tamborine. I
think I found 3 nests initially over a couple of years. However, I kept
the check going for the next 16 years or so. Nests were difficult to
find on Tamborine but much easier to find on the Great Divide to the
west. We blamed dry weather at the time for lack of nests but over the
years as I kept following them, it was fairly obvious that females
simply did not breed as frequently as those on the Great Divide. They
seemed to go years without breeding even though the males were in full
voice during the winter months. I got to know individual birds quite
intimately - we had two singing males and females in a block of
rainforest on our own property. At one stage after about 8 years of not
finding a nest, it seemed that every female had a nest the next season.
I found the nests of about 10 females while I lived there. Females were
loyal to nesting sites, usually building on the same ledge each time
they nested. In the years when I could find no nests in regular sites, I
made a point of searching the entire cliff lines as well as other
typical sites that the Main Range lyrebirds used just to be sure there
was no breeding.
Tamborine Albert's had a number of differences from MacPherson and Main
Range Lyrebirds. One striking difference was in the construction of the
nests. Main Range Lyrebirds build a beautifully neat domed structure but
Tamborine Albert's built an ugly almost rudimentary domed nest, more or
less thrown together. Tamborine birds were a cliff nester - I found them
only on cliffs though I believe there is an early record or two from the
base of trees. However, on the Main Range, they nested mostly at the
base of a tree on a steep slope. An occasional bird nested on a cliff
and I did see an old nest in a tree fern at one stage. There were other
small differences but I cannot remember what they were now. We examined
skins in the Qld Museum at the time and Tamborine birds were darker on
the underparts amongst a few other subtle differences. I always noticed
quite a difference in voice too - tone of the Tamborine birds was never
as melodius as those on the main range where their voices seemed to be
much more "pure". Syd would know much more about voice than me but it
was always a pleasure to get to the Main Range and the MacPhersons to
hear the sweeter voices.
My impression from following them for those years was that the Tamborine
Albert's were an ancient population - they would have been isolated from
the main population on the MacPhersons and the Main Range for many
thousands of years from the lay of the country. We always thought the
differences were enough to warrant a subspecific ranking. It could be
interesting to know what present day DNA reveals - if anything.
So transferring birds from the Main Range for the sake of genetic
diversity while it sounds great would not be the best way to go if this
unique population was to be preserved in its own right. But as Syd
intimates, trying to preserve the population would be one huge task.
The purpose of the study was to eventually publish a paper on the
Tamborine population or Lyrebirds but through the pressures of
establishing and running a business and rearing a family amongst other
things, sadly it never eventuated.
Lloyd Nielsen
Mt Molloy, Nth Qld
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