Lyrebird still in the race

The lyrebird (more formally known as the Superb Lyrebird) survived the cull last night in the Australian Bird of the Year competition. As of about 6pm this evening there are 35 birds left in the competition, nine of which have lower scores today than the lyrebird. With a bit of luck it will survive tonight’s cull of the birds with the five lowest scores. The Gang Gang Cockatoo and the Tawny Frogmouth are leading the field.
 
We encountered this chap, and I know it’s a chap because of his tail, at Fitzroy Falls in New South Wales - not today, because we are still in lockdown, but back in 2014 when we took our friends visiting from Ullapool to see the falls. We were all excited to spot him and to be able to photograph him.
 
Lyrebirds are ground living birds with strong legs and feet and short rounded wings. They use their long toes and claws for raking through dead leaves and soil to find their food, which consists of ground-dwelling insects, frogs , spiders and other small invertebrates. Clearly it’s a good diet because they are long-lived birds, capable of living as long as thirty years.
 
They are generally poor fliers and rarely take to the air except for periods of downhill gliding. They rarely move large distances and generally stay in a home-range about 10 km in diameter. They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. They have been recorded mimicking sounds such as a mill whistle, a cross-cut saw, chainsaws, car engines, car alarms, fire alarms, camera shutters, dogs barking, music and mobile phone rings, to name a few.
 
The male lyrebird is also famous for its stunning courtship display, in which it fans and shimmers his stupendous tail feathers while prancing, strutting and jumping about on a stage of leaf litter. By combining his mimicry and dancing ability, the male hopes to attract a mate, in fact several.
 
Sadly, since the dreadful bushfires in the 2019 -2020 bushfires season, when much of its natural habitat was destroyed, the lyrebird is in danger of being reclassified as a threatened species.