I thought I would share this letter with the group; I am really
impressed by this guy's knowledge of the Lyrebird and thought you would
like to see what Syd's observations are....... Great Stuff Syd
Martyn
-----Original Message-----
From: Syd Curtis
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2003 5:28 AM
To:
Cc: Vicki Powys
Subject: Your Albert's Lyrebird
Hello Martyn,
I am not a really competent computer user. I rarely venture
into trying to look at web sites - and usually don't succeed when I do.
So
when you first mentioned your good recording, I reluctantly deleted the
message. But when it received such very high praise I reckoned I had to
try.
I didn't succeed, and wasn't surprised at that, but I did learn that it
was
of an Albert's Lyrebird. Then I simply HAD TO HAVE IT! My son Kimbal
got
it from your site and sent it to me (he lives in Perth on the other side
of
Australia).=20
It is indeed a beautifully clean recording. I don't know how familiar
you
are with Australian bird song, so I have attempted to identify the
mimicry.
It might be of interest, if you don't know the mimicked species. And if
you
do, you can check me out. (I've assumed that because your email address
doesn't have ".au" on the end, that you are American rather than
Australian.)
In what follows the numbers are the time in seconds from the beginning
of
your recording.=20
02 single note of Satin Bowerbird (SBb)
03-06 SBb =8Csong=B9
09-13 Three notes of Australian King Parrot. The very short note
before
the second is probably SBb. (I=B9ll use # for that very short note where
it
occurs again later.)
09-17 The lyrebird's territorial song. One could debate whether
those
three mimicked notes of King Parrot are just that =AD simply mimicry, or
whether they are part of the Ts. I favour their being part of the Ts.
Albert=B9s almost always have one, two or three introductory notes,
usually
short and mostly high-pitched. And sometimes mimicked sounds are used
for
these intro. notes.
19 Harsh note of SBb.
22 #, then two notes of King Parrot but different ones to those at
09.
25 Two notes. The second is definitely Logrunner. The first is very
short and I can't identify it. My best guess is Crimson Rosella.
27-32 I think this is a sort of Lyrebird Ts. But if so, it is one of
the
most peculiar Albert=B9s T songs I=B9ve heard. One King parrot note at the
beginning, and with a short but unmistakable Kookaburra =8Cchuckle=B9 at th=
e
end. And just before the Kookaburra the three very loud notes are, I
think,
SBb. (I=B9ll come back to them later.)
34-40 Ts, as at the 09, with two King Parrot notes as the intro.
42-43 SBb =8Csong=B9
45 SBb single harsh note
47-50 Two notes of King Parrot and one of logrunner. I can=B9t
identify
the very short note before the logrunner. The same as at 25?
51 Lyrebird Ts to end the extract.
(If you want scientific names for the species, say so and I'll send
them.)
In the apparent Ts (27-32), the three notes of SBb warrant further
comment.
With both species of lyrebirds there are marked regional dialects in the
T
songs. As I was not aware of there being an Albert=B9s in captivity, I am
very curious to know where he came from. I hope to track this down
through
the Parks and Wildlife Service, but meanwhile, the Ts in your recording
sounds more like the Springbrook Plateau dialect than any other I know.
Not quite the same, but my recording there was done in 1970, and the Ts
may
have evolved a bit since then. Also if the bird has been in captivity
for
some years and unable to hear other lyrebirds, his song may have drifted
a
bit.
=20
But I have been mildly intrigued, on re-listening to my =8C70 recordings,
to
find that the bird I recorded then used a series of mimicked very loud
SBb
notes far more often than Albert=B9s from other areas where these notes
are
only rarely used. And I wondered if in fact the bird was using them as
a
sort of pseudo-territorial song.
Now your recording shows them being used very much in that way, as part
of
what has the general structure of an Albert=B9s Ts.
Are there any more sequences similar to 27-32 in the rest of your
recording?
In one other area only, I=B9ve encountered mimicked sounds incorporated
into
Albert=B9s T. songs. One version had some SBb notes but different ones to
these. And this is the first time I=B9ve found an Albert=B9s Ts (if indeed
it
is a Ts) with a fragment of mimicry tacked on the end =AD that bit of
Kookaburra chuckle. There is however a population of Superb Lyrebirds
that
Vicki Powys introduced me to, where they often use a few notes of
mimicked
Crimson Rosella to end their T songs.
What I have written applies to the lyrebirds' vocal behaviour during the
breeding season, say May to August. Out of the breeding season their
singing can be very different.
Your recording sounds like breeding season song. What time of the year
did
you make it?=20
All the best
Syd
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