On Thu, Mar 13, 2003 at 12:16:25PM +1100, Dean Portelli wrote:
> .... To illustrate: Superbs introduced to
> Tasmania (1930-40's) continued to include mimicry of Eastern Whipbirds and
> Pilotbirds in their song (up to at least the 1980's after which it
> apparently was barely detectable, 1940-1980 is a period greater than the
> lifespan of a singing adult male i.e. this provides evidence for ?cultural
> transmission? of mimicry) but have since been noted to mimic several
What the maximum lifespan of Superb Lyrebirds?
The correlation between weight and longevity in passerines would suggest
a maximum lifespan of tens of years. They are largely ground dwellers
which I assume is associated with reduced longevity but this maybe
counterbalanced by the Tasmanian birds as an introduced species being
free of some factors which reduce longevity.
Andrew Taylor
Birding-Aus is on the Web at
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