On the PBS program "Nature" last Sunday, I saw and heard a lyrebird
for the first time. I don't have enough words to describe the
lyrebird's amazing repetoire of sounds and its gorgeous courtship
display. If you haven't seen or heard this bird, don't miss this
program. (Usually it's aired the following Saturday.)
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about the lyrebird.
"A lyrebird's call is a rich mixture of its own song and any number
of other sounds it has heard. The lyrebird's syrinx is the most
complexly-muscled of the Passerines (songbirds), giving the lyrebird
extraordinary ability, unmatched in vocal repertoire and mimicry.
Lyrebirds render with great fidelity the individual songs of other
birds and the chatter of flocks of birds, and also mimic other
animals, human noises, machinery of all kinds, explosions, and
musical instruments. The lyrebird is capable of imitating almost any
sound =97 from a mill whistle to a cross-cut saw, and, not uncommonly,
sounds as diverse as chainsaws [2], car engines and car alarms, fire
alarms, rifle-shots, camera shutters, dogs barking and crying babies.
An anecdotal example
A Lyrebird's tale
During the early 1930s, a male lyrebird, called "James", formed a
close bond of friendship with a human being, Mrs. Wilkinson, after
she had been offering food to him over a period of time. James would
perform his courtship dance for her on one of his mounds which he had
constructed in her backyard =97 and he would also put on his display
for a wider audience, but only when Mrs. Wilkinson was one of those
present. On one such occasion, James' performance lasted for forty-
three minutes, and included steps to a courtship dance accompanied by
his own tune =97 and also included imitating perfectly the calls of an
Australian Magpie, and a young magpie being fed by a parent-bird, a
Eastern Whipbird, a Bellbird, a complete laughing-song of a
Kookaburra, two Kookaburras laughing in unison, a Yellow-tailed Black-
cockatoo, a Gang-gang Cockatoo, an Eastern Rosella, a Pied
Butcherbird, a Wattle-bird, a Grey Shrike-thrush, a Thornbill, a
White-browed Scrubwren, a Striated Pardalote, a Starling, a Yellow
Robin, a Golden Whistler, a flock of parrots whistling in flight, the
Crimson Rosella, several other birds whose notes his audience were
not able to identify, and the song of honey-eaters (tiny birds with
tiny voices), that gather in numbers and "cheep" and twitter in a
multitudinous sweet whispering. In order to mimic the honeyeaters'
singing faithfully, James was obliged to subdue his powerful voice to
the faintest pianissimo, but he contrived, nevertheless, to make each
individual note of the soft chorus audibly distinct. Also included in
James' performance was his perfect mimicry of the sounds made by a
rock-crusher at work, a hydraulic ram, and the tooting of motor-
horns."
Peace, light, and beautiful sounds,
Roger
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