Superb Lyrebird Menura novaehollandiae Scientific name definitions

Large ground-dwelling bird with powerful legs and long tail. Primarily gray-brown with reddish outer wing. Males have spectacular long tail comprising different feather types. The main “lyre” feathers bold barring while the other feathers are plain, thin, and wispy. Juveniles and females lack the longer tail feathers. This may cause confusion with Albert’s Lyrebird, but note range and color of underparts (cold and grayish in Superb). Superb Lyrebird is found in rainforest habitats in southeastern Australia, where it forages in leaf litter for food. It has a very powerful song and is known for mimicking other species.

Male c. 103 cm, 1100 g; female 76–80 cm, 890 g. Large, with long legs, big strongly clawed feet, and long, train-like tail . Male nominate race has dark grey to brownish-grey upperparts , dull red-brown wash on greater coverts and wings; tail 54–71 cm long, comprises wire-like central pair of feathers , 12 lacy filamentaries, and broad outermost pair (lyrates) with toothcomb pattern and black club-shaped tip, dark brown above and mostly silvery white below; underparts dark to light brownish-grey, undertail-coverts browner; bill black; iris black, grey orbital ring; legs and feet dark grey. Differs from M. alberti in larger size, less rufous plumage, longer tail with more elaborate lyrates. Female is like male, but tail shorter (25–41 cm) and simpler. Juvenile is like adult female, but forehead, chin and foreneck rufous to red-brown, lyrates shorter, narrower and pointed at tip; gradually loses rufous coloration and develops adult tail over several years. Race edwardi  is generally lighter and greyer than nominate, lyrates slightly less curved; <em>victoriae</em> has head , neck and mantle darker, wings slightly darker.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

In past, sometimes referred to as M. superba (1 McAllan, I.A.W. (2007). Existing usage and the names of some Australian birds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 127(2): 136–145. Close , 2 Schodde, R., Bock, W.J. and Steinheimer, F.D. (2007). Stabilising the nomenclature of Australasian birds by invalidation and suppression of disused and dubious names. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 127(4): 268–282. Close , 3 Schodde, R., E. C. Dickinson, F. D. Steinheimer, and W. J. Bock (2010). The date of Latham’s Supplementum Indicis Ornithologici: 1801 or 1802? South Australian Ornithologist 35(8):231–235. Close ). Race victoriae previously included in nominate. Three subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Mainly moist forest, particularly cool temperate and subtropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest, from sea-level to subalpine zone. Inhabits gulleys, valleys, mid-slopes and ridges; needs bare ground for feeding. In subtropical rainforest, usually associated with dense understorey of ferns, shrubs, vines and epiphytes; in cool temperate rainforest, in areas with more open understorey. Widespread in wet sclerophyll forest with various eucalyptus (Eucalyptus) species forming canopy, also in alpine snow gum woodland and coastal eucalypt forest where banksias (Banksia) prominent. In Tasmania, introduced population (victoriae) now established in temperate beech (Nothofagus) forest and wet sclerophyll forest. N populations (edwardi) confined to dry sclerophyll forest with sparse understorey of hard-leaved shrubs interrupted by numerous granite boulders.

Sedentary; adults relax territorial boundaries a little in non-breeding season. Young immatures not territorial, move over larger area, often gregariously. Natural dispersal usually less than 10 km. Flees considerable distances from bush fires.

Eats mainly adult and immature invertebrates obtained from soil and under bark; occasionally takes small vertebrates and seeds. Common prey include earthworms, woodlice (Isopoda), millipedes (Diplopoda), centipedes (Chilopoda), scorpions (Scorpiones), spiders, cockroaches (Blattodea), beetles, earwigs (Dermaptera), diplurans, fly larvae, bees, ants and moths; less frequent items include amphipods and decapods, bugs (Hemiptera), stick-insects (Phasmatidae), snails, small frogs, skinks (Scincidae). Additional prey items recorded in nestling diet are the arthropod Peripatus, springtails (Collembola), crickets (Gryllidae), grasshoppers (Acrididae). Forages mostly solitarily, on ground  ; foraging routes straight or winding. Digs in soil to depths of 15 cm, uses powerful feet  to rip bark from rotting logs, taking any suitably sized prey encountered. On average, excavation sites used during steady foraging up to 2 m apart, each yielding 25–30 prey items. Prey disturbed by its activity are exploited by other passerines. Foraging thought to play key role in nutrient-cycling and vegetation regeneration. An individual once seen to forage almost 5 m up in a messmate (Eucalyptus obliqua), where it scratched in debris trapped where two large branches joined trunk.

Vocabulary is very varied, ranging from mechanical-sounding clicks and cackles to explosive whistles and piercing shrieks. Male song is loud and complex, with 70–80% comprising highly accurate imitations of the vocalizations of sympatric species of birds (4 Zann, R. and Dunstan, E. (2008). Mimetic song in Superb Lyrebirds: species mimicked and mimetic accuracy in different populations and age classes. Animal Behaviour. 76(3): 1043–1054. Close , 5 Dalziell, A.H. and Magrath, R.D. (2012). Fooling the experts: accurate vocal mimicry in the song of the Superb Lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae. Animal Behaviour. 83: 1401–1410. Close ). Also females regularly produce sophisticated vocal displays incorporating both lyrebird-specific vocalizations and imitations of sounds within their environment (6 Dalziell, A.H. and Welbergen, J.A. (2016). Elaborate mimetic vocal displays by female Superb Lyrebirds. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 4: 34. Close ). During dance display, male utters buzzing and clicking notes.

Laying in Jun–Aug. Male  solitary, promiscuous, exhibits arena behaviour, performs courtship with much vocal mimicry on earth mound, tail thrust forward horizontally over head and back and vibrated rapidly, with side-to-side stepping and vertical jumps; copulation on mound  , female may visit several males pre-mating; nest-building and all parental care solely by female. Nest bulky, domed, with side entrance, made from sticks, rootlets, twigs, bark, fern fronds, plant fibre, leaves and moss, lined with fine plant materials and body feathers; placed mostly on or within 2 m of ground, sometimes at up to 20 m in tree, main sites include base of tree, earth bank, boulders, rock face, and fissure or crotch of living or dead tree; male territory typically 2·5–5 ha, female territory smaller. Clutch 1 egg  ; incubation 50 days; nestling period 47 days; independence at 8–9 months after fledging. Success variable, c. 11% to 64%; predation main cause of breeding failure. Female first breeding at 5–6 years, male at 6–8 years. Oldest identifiable individual 25–26 years.

Not globally threatened. Formerly hunted, now fully protected. Many mainland populations probably declined in 20th century. Still common in suitable habitat; densities 0·1–0·5 birds/ha. Habitat reduced and degraded by forestry, agriculture and settlement  ; able to live in forest remnants in farmland, also in logged forest if regrowth more than 5 years old and ground cover limited. Introduced in 1930s and 1940s in Tasmania, where expanded range by c. 1 km annually and expansion continuing. Has low recruitment rate but high longevity. Main threat probably further habitat loss, as some populations not in protected reserves; in addition, predation on adults and nestlings by introduced mammals can have significant adverse impact on numbers.