Colin and other birders,
> My question is this: when mimicking, do Superb Lyrebirds only give the
> calls of other species in the form of the "medley", or do they sometimes
> imitate the call of a single species in isolation?
In my experience, Superb Lyrebirds always give their mimicry within a
medley, and they do not usually imitate the call of a single species, unless
perhaps they are interupted in their course of singing for some reason.
Probably the isolated calls you heard were "the real thing", i.e. not the
lyrebird.
Vicki Powys
Capertee Valley, NSW
on 2/8/03 4:51 PM, Scouler at wrote:
> Hello birders,
>
> On an early morning wlk along the northern end of Lady Carrington Drive
> in Royal National Park (on the southern outskirts of Sydney) last week,
> we saw and heard several Superb Lyrebirds. The males were singing loudly
> and indulging in mimicry, in display and otherwise, sometimes quite
> spontaneously while foraging. Most of the mimicry took the familiar form
> of the "medley", a continuous stream of brief "quotations" from the
> songs of other species of birds without a pause in between. But from
> time to time we heard the call of a single species isolated from other
> calls. We were unable to determine whether or not these emanated from
> the lyrebirds. They were of species (Pilotbird, Pied Currawong, Grey
> Shrike-thrush) which occur in the area. If they were imitations, they
> sounded identical to the originals, at least to our inexpert ears.
>
> My question is this: when mimicking, do Superb Lyrebirds only give the
> calls of other species in the form of the "medley", or do they sometimes
> imitate the call of a single species in isolation?
>
> Regards,
> Colin Scouler.
>
>
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