A native pheasant up to 1 m, including tail. Plain rich brown above, coppery on wings, deep grey below; legs and feet dark grey, powerful.
Tail of male long and train-like, of two clubbed ‘lyrates’ about 60 cm long usually horizontal; glossy black and rufous above, silvery below, with notched ‘windows’; two slender, curved, ribbon-like guard-plumes’ and 12 lacy filamentaries, black above, silvery below. Moults annually. Full tail acquired at 6-8 years.
Tail of female (and immature male) is simpler, drooping and pointed, lyrates smaller, often hidden; typically looks twisted.
The nest is a bulky mound of sticks, bark, fern fronds and moss; on ground, bank, rock shelf, in stump or head of tree fern or to 25 m in a tree fork.
Size
86 cm female, 100 cm male
Behaviour
Call
The Superb Lyrebird is renowned for its outstanding ability to mimic almost any sound, and it can imitate the calls of most birds of the forest.
Diet
They scratch through leaf litter with their feet to feed on insects, spiders, worms, and, occasionally, seeds. Females and young males may be seen feeding together.
Breeding
The male secures a territory, attracting potential mates by singing and dancing on one of several display mounds within it, while throwing the tail forward over the body and shaking it in display. Female builds the nest, incubates the single egg and cares for the young. The egg is stone-grey, deep khaki brown or purple-brown, spotted, streaked, blotched grey and black.
Field Guide
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