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Australia's superb lyrebird is one of the world's great mimics, able to reproduce the calls of many other bird species with startling accuracy, weaving them into its own song.

Ornithology (superb lyrebird)

Science

The story behind the card

Superb lyrebirds live in the forests of south-eastern Australia. The male is named for his long tail feathers, which reminded early European naturalists of a lyre, an ancient stringed instrument. Between 70 and 80 per cent of a male's song is borrowed from other species, such as kookaburras. He performs on bare mounds of earth that he clears on the forest floor, fanning his tail over his head as he sings and dances for females. A 2021 study found that males even recreate the sound of a whole flock of birds noisily ganging up on a predator. Captive birds filmed for David Attenborough's The Life of Birds (1998) copied a car alarm, a camera shutter and a chainsaw. A male lyrebird appears on Australia's ten-cent coin.

Türkçe oku
Avustralya'da yaşayan lir kuşu, dünyanın en usta taklitçilerindendir. Başka pek çok kuş türünün sesini şaşırtıcı bir doğrulukla taklit eder ve bunları kendi şarkısına katar.

Lir kuşu Avustralya'nın güneydoğusundaki ormanlarda yaşar. Adını erkeğin uzun kuyruk tüylerinden alır: İlk Avrupalı doğa bilimcileri bu tüyleri, eski çağlardan kalma telli bir çalgı olan lire benzetmişti. Erkeğin şarkısının yüzde 70-80'i, kookaburra gibi başka türlerden ödünç alınmış seslerdir. Erkek bu şarkıyı ormanın zemininde temizlediği çıplak toprak tümseklerinin üstünde söyler; bir yandan da kuyruğunu başının üstünde yelpaze gibi açıp dişiler için dans eder. 2021'de yayımlanan bir araştırma, erkeklerin bir avcının üstüne gürültüyle üşüşen bütün bir kuş sürüsünün sesini bile taklit ettiğini ortaya koydu. David Attenborough'nun The Life of Birds (1998) belgeseli için koruma merkezinde çekilen kuşlar ise araba alarmını, fotoğraf makinesi deklanşörünü ve motorlu testereyi taklit etti. Avustralya'nın 10 sentlik madenî parasında bir erkek lir kuşu vardır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Superb lyrebird
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