The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is an Australian passerine songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae, with the other being the much rarer Albert's lyrebird. It is one of the world's largest songbirds, and is renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excellent mimicry. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in forest in the southeast of the country. According to David Attenborough, the superb lyrebird displays one of the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom—"the most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful".
Taxonomy
Based on specimens sent from New South Wales to England, Major-General Thomas Davies illustrated and described this species as the "superb lyrebird", which he called Menura superba, in a presentation to the Linnean Society of London on 4 November 1800, but his work was not published until 1802; in the intervening time period, however, the species was described and named Menura novaehollandiae by John Latham in 1801, and this is the accepted name by virtue of nomenclatural priority. Latham described the inner webs of the bird's outer tail-feathers as having numerous transparent lunules, its generic name Menura comes from this description from the Ancient Greek words mēnē "moon" and ourá "tail". Its specific epithet derives from Modern Latin Nova Hollandia "New Holland", the name given by early Dutch explorers to Western Australia.
The classification of lyrebirds was the subject of much debate after the first specimens reached European scientists after 1798.
Distribution and habitat
Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals. The Australian Museum contains fossils of lyrebirds dating back to about 15 million years ago. The prehistoric Menura tyawanoides has been described from early Miocene fossils found at the famous Riversleigh site. The superb lyrebird is found in the forests of southeastern Australia, ranging from southern Victoria to southeastern Queensland.
The bird was introduced to southern Tasmania in 1934–54, amid ill-founded fears the species was becoming threatened with extinction in its mainland populations. The Tasmania population is thriving and even growing. Across the rest of its large range, the lyrebird is common, and is evaluated as being of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
This range of the superb lyrebird includes a variety of biomes, including subtropical and temperate rainforest, and wet and dry sclerophyll forest. The preferred habitat of the bird is in wet forest and rainforest, where there is an open ground layer of moist leaf litter shaded by vegetation. In favourable seasons, the lyrebird range is often extended into drier areas further from water sources.
Description
The superb lyrebird is a large, pheasant-sized terrestrial passerine, ranging in length from for the female to for the male. Females weigh around , and males weigh around . The plumage colour is mainly dark brown on the upper body, with greyish-brown underparts and red-tinged flight feathers, its feathers are brighter tail than that of Albert's lyrebirds. The wings are short and round, and are only capable of weak flight, being mainly used for balance or for gliding from trees to the ground. The legs are powerful, capable of running quickly, and the feet are strong enough to move branches up to 10 cm in diameter.
Tail feathers
Adult males have tails up to long, consisting of sixteen feathers. There are outer two feathers broad and S-shaped named "lyrates" for their resemblance to the shape of a lyre, they have brown and buff coloured patterning. Lyrates of superb lyrebirds are larger than of Albert lyrebirds. Between the lyrates are twelve filamentaries, feathers of flexible silvery barbs. In the centre of the tail are two silvery median feathers. The tail of the female is less ornate, with shorter lyrates and plain, broad feathers in place of the filamentaries.
In both sexes, juveniles have no ornamental tail feathers. The tail plumage develops into that of the mature bird through a series of annual moults, with feathers undergoing change in structure and patterning. The male superb lyrebird reaches maturity in 7–9 years, and the female in 6–7 years.