THE SUPERB LYREBIRD IN THE ELZ

The Superb Lyrebird -Menura novaehollandiae- is one of Australia's more unusual birds with its spectacular tail, its amazing mimicry and the beautiful courtship displays of the male. It is wonderful to have them re-establishing a presence in the ELZ

Here is a brief rundown of the main aspects of the species: -

∑ Size - Male up to 100 cm (including 60 cm tail), Female 86 cm

∑ Colour - Body is dull brown above and grey below, with dull rufous patches on throat and wings. Juveniles are more rufous but this fades with age. Dark grey legs and feet are powerful

∑ Tail - The male's tail is 60 cm long and usually carried horizontally as a 'train'. It consists of16 feathers of 3 different types. The outer feather on each side is a broad lyrate plume, brown with pale notches on top but silvery with chestnut notches and black club-like ends on the underside. The 2 central feathers are long fine ribbon-like "guard-plumes". These and the 12 filamentary feathers are brown on top and silvery-white on the underside. The dark top provides effective camouflage under normal conditions and the bright underside creates a spectacular effect when the bird inverts the tail in a fan above its head during display.

The tail feathers moult in late spring when the bird becomes 'tail-less'. The new tail grows over a 12-week period.

The female's tail, shorter than the males, consists of brown feathers that are plain and lack the filamented structure. They often become twisted during incubation.

The young male's tail is similar to the female's, but develops progressively, with each moult, until maturity is reached after 7 to 9 years.

∑ Song - Powerful far-carrying mimicry of a large range of other birdcalls, intermingled with the bird's own phrases and also sometimes mechanical noises such as chain-saws etc. The females call is similar but less powerful.

The birds can be detected by their call - a string of mimicked calls that are "louder" than the calls made by the birds being mimicked.

∑ Life Cycle - Courtship is complex, varied and extends over a long period.

The male attracts females by performing a dance on its mound while singing and displaying its inverted tail. It may have up to 12 mounds in its territory. The mounds are a cleared area, 1 to 2 m. across, with raked material to 15 cm depth in the centre.

The birds call all year round but serious performance on the mounds starts in autumn. The female's selection of a male is apparently based on the quality of his performance. Once selected the male mates with the female, she then goes on her way with no further assistance from the male. He continues his performances and may attract a number of females.

The female constructs the domed bulky nest with sticks, ferns, moss and bark usually within the male's territory. This can be at ground level or elevated in stumps, ferns or trees to a height of 25 m. The nest has a thick lining of fibrous roots and feathers to make it warm and waterproof for the inclement winter months.

One egg, 65 x 45 mm, of variable colour is usually laid in June or July (records exist from May to September).

Incubation, in the wild, takes about 45 days (22 days in captivity where the nest is not regularly vacated for extended periods for food gathering).

The chick fledges after 47 days and is dependent on the adult female for a further 7 to 8 months.

Maturity is reached in 7 to 9 years for males and 6 to 7 years for females.

∑ Activity - Roosts in trees but feeds at ground level. Flies heavily, glides downwards but usually proceeds upward by a series of leaps.

∑ Food - Worms, grubs, beetles etc. which are found at or just below the interface of the forest litter and the soil, or under bark or small logs on the forest floor. Surface scratchings are good indicators of the bird's presence in an area.

∑ Distribution - From ne of Melbourne (Dandenongs and Kinglake) up east coast to just n of Queensland border. Introduced to Tasmania.

∑ Variation - 3 subspecies have been identified over the range (only one occurs in Vic.)

∑ Similar Species - Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti) occurs in subtropical rainforests near the Qld border.

ELZ Lyrebird Record

Lyrebirds were seen in the area, for the first time in at least forty years, during July 2000. They seem to have re-established themselves on the northern edge of the ELZ. The following sightings have been reported:-

07/00 F Pierce saw male east of Skyline Rd just North of Coop early am

08/00 S Craig saw male north of 'Clatons Dam' early pm

08/00 P V contractor heard bird in ELZ from Mt Lofty (via G Jamison)

01/01 FP, QM, & KH heard bird west of 'Pierre's Dam' early am

02/01 FP & JM saw male & female & Ashmore Rd in evening

06/01 M Krause heard near Sugarloaf

06/01 T Millington saw 1 bird on Skyline Rd

08/01 W Krause saw 2 birds together on Skyline Rd on 2 occasions

12/01 M Skews saw 1 bird on Skyline Rd

02/02 C Carson saw 2 birds together on Skyline Rd on 2 occasions

13/02/03 W Krause saw male bird (and probably female) on Skyline Rd

near gate 3 @ 6.45 am

13/02/03 FP & JM heard bird below ridge opposite gate 3 @ 7 pm

02/07/03 S Craig heard male call inside Sugarloaf near gate 3

04/08/03 S Craig heard male call below aqueduct track near Tunnel #5

12/09/03 F Pierce Saw bird just north of 'crake dam' @ 9am

04/11/03 S Craig Saw male crossing Skyline Rd at southern boundary of Sugarloaf Dam at 7pm

06/11/03 C Fisher Saw female outside her house at 7am

18/11/03 K Heely Saw female/young male ? crossing Skyline Rd at Gate of Sugarloaf Dam at 7pm

26/02/04 M Krause heard below Gurney's @ 2 pm

27/02/04 M Krause heard below Parfitt's @ 7.30 am

27/02/04 P Gurney heard below his house

28/02/04 P Gurney Saw and photographed a male below his house @ 1pm

29/02/04 S&M Nihill saw?? a male??? below their house @ ???

29/02/04 R Henry saw a female on Gongflers Dr above Daunt's @ ??

01/03/04 J McCallum heard NE of his house @ 7am

01/03/04 G&M Peterson heard in gully N of house @ 7am???

06/03/04 K&N Kaminga heard in gully N of house @ 7.30am

This re-establishment of the Lyrebird is a practical example of the importance of the habitat link between Kinglake National Park and Warrandyte State Park. WSP is too small and fragmented to independently sustain its biological diversity in the long term. The habitat link with KLNP is a way of overcoming this problem.

The ELZ is a vital part of that link and we have used this fact to support our arguments for special protection of our area. Sometimes in the past people have been skeptical of this concept but the lyrebird experience is concrete evidence of the importance of the link.

As with the ELZ, Lyrebirds have not been recorded in WSP for at least 44 years (probably since before the '62 fires). It now seems to be only a matter of time for them to reach WSP, provided the environmental qualities of the link are maintained and protected.