Hi all,
We've only ever heard the southern Tas birds mimicking local birds, and other
sounds - vehicles, axe chops, etc.
However, years ago the LAST Spirit of Tasmania Ferry (the big white one), had a
walk-through 'Display' on Tassie, part of which was a rainforest walk-through.
Some of the recorded calls played there (which admittedly, could have been
recorded anywhere) was of lyrebirds calling and mimicking. One of the calls
they were mimicking was Eastern Whipbird. I must admit, the whole thing seemed
a bit strange to me - using a bird introduced into Tas., mimicking a bird that
doesn't exist in Tas, to promote walks through Tasmanian forests!!
Cheers,
John Tongue
Ulverstone, Tas.
On 28/10/2010, at 11:04 AM, Syd Curtis wrote:
>
> Yes, Stephen. I thought it was well known that the Tasmanian Superbs
> continued to use mimicry of Whipbirds and Pilot-birds, neither of which
> species occurs in Tassie. And these sounds were passed down through the
> generations. But I've heard that in the absence of models the sounds have
> now deteriorated beyond recognition. Not surprising after 60 plus years.
>
> Cheers
>
> Syd
>
>> From: "Stephen Ambrose" <>
>> Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 11:17:07 +1100
>> To: "'Tony Russell'" <>, "'Chris'"
>> <>, "'Ralph Reid'" <>
>> Cc: 'Birding-Aus' <>, 'Stephen Ambrose'
>> <>
>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Superb Lyrebirds in Tasmania (was "Introduced bird
>> species")
>>
>> It would be interesting to know if the lyrebirds that were introduced into
>> Tasmania from the mainland in the 1930s & '40s continued to mimic calls of
>> some mainland bird species that aren't present in Tasmania (if they did so
>> beforehand), or if they readily began to mimic local bird calls instead.
>>
>> It would be even more interesting to know if any of the descendants of the
>> translocated lyrebirds mimic the calls of any mainland bird species that
>> their ancestors mimicked.
>>
>> Such information would help us understand better the nurture vs nature
>> debate.
>>
>> Stephen Ambrose
>> Ryde, NSW
>
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