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Mimicry by Lyrebird

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Subject: Mimicry by Lyrebird
From: Carol Probets <>
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:45:24 +1000
Shane,

One question: are you familiar with the Superb Lyrebird's own range of calls? Because one of its own calls which it often performs as part of its display, is a sound very much like you describe.

L.H. Smith in his book "The Life of the Lyrebird" describes it (I think) as the "clonk clonk" call.... "which may be given alone or as part of a more extended call, like 'clonk clonk clickety clickety click', with dialectal variations, which usually accompanies a series of jumps from one foot to the other." (p.98)

Here in the Blue Mountains, if you stand at any lookout in winter you're likely to hear this sound coming up from the valleys, as it carries such a long way and is sometimes the only part of the lyrebird's song that can be heard from a great distance.

cheers,

Carol


At 8:50 AM -0400 13/4/07,  wrote:
to perpetuate the "myth" of lyrebirds mimcking human-made sounds ...
a couple of years back, my wife and i stood spellbound listening to a lyrebird not 5m away run through a medley of bird calls interspersed with a very unnatural sound remarkably like someone hammering a downpipe or sheet of metal. this was much louder than the mimicked calls.
it repeated the sequence a few times.
shane b


--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carol Probets
Guided birding in the Blue Mountains & Capertee Valley
PO Box 330
Katoomba NSW 2780
Web: http://www.bmbirding.com.au
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



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