Lyrebirds , or Lira Birds ( Latin Menura ) - birds of the Passeriform order. The genus is part of the monotypic family of lyrebirds and includes two modern species of Australian birds , leading the terrestrial lifestyle. They are remarkable in that they have an excellent ability to imitate the natural and artificial sounds of the environment. Lyrebirds are also well known because of the striking beauty of their huge tail in the male bird - they can be admired when he opens his tail for demonstration or for courtship. Lyrebirds are considered national Australian birds.
Lyrebirds |
Great Lyrebird |
Scientific classification |
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No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
Family: | Lyrebirds ( Menuridae ( Latham , 1802) ) |
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International Scientific Name |
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Menura Latham , 1802 |
Kinds |
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- Menura alberti ( Alberta lyrebird )
- Menura novaehollandiae ( big lira bird )
- † menura tyawanoides
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Behavior and EcologyThe male is active in the winter when he creates and maintains an open circular mound in a dense bush , on which he “sings” and performs a courtship dance to demonstrate to potential partners, who have several males. The female builds an inaccurate covered nest, located in a wet lowland below ground level under the protection of a windbreak, less often in trees. There, she lays a single egg and for up to 50 days she incubates herself before breeding the chick.
Lyrebirds feed on insects , spiders , earthworms and, sometimes, seeds . They find food, raking leaves. Lyrebirds are very shy, especially Alberts are lyrebirds, so there is very little information about their behavior. When danger approaches, the lyrebirds stop and emit an alarm. After that, they run away or seek shelter in which to hide and freeze there [1] . There were cases when lyrebirds tried to hide in the mines during forest fires, along with firefighters. [2]
Voice and ImitationSong lyrehosta is its most distinctive characteristic. Lyrebirds sing throughout the year, most of them sing in the breeding season, which runs from June to August. During this time, they can sing up to four hours a day — almost half the daylight hours. The lyrebird's song consists of seven elements of his own songs and any number of other songs and sounds that he can successfully imitate. The syrinx of the lyrebird is the most difficult among passerines (songbirds) and gives the lyrebird extraordinary facial expressions and an unsurpassed vocal repertoire. Lyrebirds reproduce the songs of other birds with great accuracy, and also imitate other animals, such as koalas and dingos [1] . Lyrebirds can imitate almost any sound. Cases of imitation of the sounds of whistles, cross-saws, chainsaws [3] , car engines, car alarms, fire alarms, rifle shots, camera clicks, barking dogs, crying babies, music, mobile phone tunes and even sounds of the human voice have been reported. Nevertheless, despite the fact that people quite often report cases of imitation of human sounds, the frequency of this phenomenon is considered exaggerated and the phenomenon itself is considered to be quite rare [1] .
One researcher, Sydney Curtis, recorded sounds similar to a flute in the vicinity of the New England National Park. Similarly, in 1969, the park ranger, Neville Fenton, recorded a lyrebird song, similar to the sound of a flute, in the New England National Park, in the suburb of Dorrigo, to the north coast of New South Wales. After an investigation, Fenton found out that in the 1930s a man lived on a farm adjacent to the park, who had a habit of playing the flute next to his home lyretail. Lyrebird remembered his performance and later reproduced in the park. Neville Fenton sent this recording to the sound technician and ornithologist Norman Robinson. Since the lyrebird is able to simultaneously play two melodies, Robinson filtered out one of the melodies and lost it for analysis. The song was a modified version of two melodies popular in the 1930s: “ The Keel Row ” and “ Mosquito's Dance ”. Musicologist David Rotenberg confirmed this information [4] [5] [6] .
Systematics and evolutionThe classification of lyrebirds was accompanied by many disputes. At first, they wanted to be classified as Kuroobraznye , since externally the lyrebirds resemble a gray partridge , comb chicken and pheasant , already known to Europeans, but usually they are classified as a separate family of Menuridae with a single genus Menura .
As a rule, the family of lyrebirds is considered closely related to shrub birds (Atrichornithidae) and some authorities unite them into one family, but the assertion that lyrebirds are also associated with tent-hawks remains controversial.
Lyrebirds are not classified as endangered species in the near and medium term. The habitat of the Alberto lyrebird is very limited, but it seems to be safe as long as it remains untouched, while the large lyrebird, whose habitat was once a serious threat, is now classified as normal. But even in this case, lyrebirds are vulnerable to cats and foxes , so the birds remain under observation in terms of the availability of protection schemes for their habitats to withstand the increasing pressure from the increasing human population.
Types
Menura tyawanoides , reconstruction
- Great lyrebird ( Menura novaehollandiae )
- Alberts lyrebird ( Menura alberti ) are slightly smaller individuals, males up to 90 cm and females up to 84 cm and are found only in a small area of the Queensland Selva . Their appearance is less spectacular than that of a large lyretail, but they still look like it. Alberts lyrebird is named after Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria .
Lyrebirds are ancient Australian animals: the Australian Museum houses fossil remains of lyrebirds, whose age is estimated at about 15 Myr [7] . The prehistoric species of Menura tyawanoides is described by fossil remains from the Early Miocene , found in northwestern Queensland in the area of Riversley known as a fossil reserve.
Culture lyrebirdsThe lyrebird was depicted many times as a symbol or emblem, especially worth noting New South Wales and Victoria (which are the natural habitat of the large lyrebird) and Queensland (which is the natural habitat of the Alberto lyrebird).
- The male of a large lyrebird is depicted on the reverse of an Australian 10-cent coin [8] .
- The stylized big lyrebird is depicted in a transparent fragment of an Australian $ 100 bill.
- The silhouette of a large lyrebird is the emblem of the Australian Film Commission.
- The drawing of a large lyrebreed male is the emblem of the National Parks of New South Wales and the Wildlife Service [9] .
- The curtain pattern in the Victoria State Theater depicts a large lyrebird during the courtship period.
- The stylized drawing of a male Alberta lyrebird was the emblem of the Queenstrared Music Conservatory until it became part of Griffith University. In the emblem, the upper part of the tail of the lyrebirth turned into a part of the music staff .
- A stylized drawing of a part of the tail of a large lyrebreed male is the emblem of the Victoria Music Council.
- Many other companies with the word Lyrebird in their names also use the images of the lyretail as a logo.
Painting by John Gould
Painting by John Gould in the early 1800s depicts a large lyrebird of the British Museum
The lyrebird is so called because of its spectacular tail (which consists of 16 strongly modified feathers - two oblong in the middle of the tail, two wide, directed at an angle to the first, and 12 located between them); previously it was thought that the tail resembles a lyre . This name stuck when a copy of a large lyrebird (transported from Australia to England in the early 1800s) was prepared for a demonstration in the British Museum by a taxidermist who had never seen a live lyrebird before. The taxidermist mistakenly thought that the tail resembles a lyre and that it should be located in the same way as the peacocks when they demonstrate it, based on this taxidermist and arranged feathers accordingly. Later, John Gould (who also had never seen a live lyrebird), painted a picture of a lyrebird based on a copy from the British Museum.
Although it turned out very nicely, but lyrebirds do not hold the tail in the way that is painted in the painting by John Gould. Instead, the male lyrebird in the process of grooming opens the tail in its entire width, while it completely hides their head and back of the body - this can be seen on the Australian 10-cent coin, where the tail of the large lyrebird (during the courtship period) is depicted exactly.
Interesting factIn the early 1930s, a male lyrebird named “James” became close friends with Mrs. Wilkinson, who fed a bird for a long time. After that, James performed for her a courting dance on one of his mounds, made by him in the backyard - the same bird showed to the wider public, but only if Mrs Wilkinson was present. In one such case, James’s courting lasted 43 minutes, during which he walked, accompanying his steps with a melody of his own performance, imitating the cries of the Australian magpie and young magpie, fed by a parent, an Australian rattle, an Australian bird-bell, the laughter of two cockabar laughing in unison, yellow-eared mourning cockatoo , helmet-bearing cockatoo , variegated rosella , black- crested poultry-butcher, gray-headed honey sucker, gray-chested shrike flycatcher [10] , shiloklyuva, white-brown shrub bird , pestle horned pardalot, starling , golden-belly charmed flycatcher, golden whistler, flocks of whistling flyworms, red rosella , several other birds that were difficult to install and trills of honey suckers (tiny birds with thin voices) gathering in groups and chirping sweet voices. To imitate the sweet-voiced bird James, he had to lower his powerful voice to a weak and very quiet one, but he was very resourceful, making every tone in the choir audible and distinguishable. James also included in his performance a good imitation of the sounds of a jackhammer, a hydraulic lift and a car signal [11] .
Notes- ↑ 1 2 3 Lill, Alan (2004), "Family Menuridae (Lyrebirds)", in del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Christie, David, Handbook of the Birds of the World . Volume 9, Cotingas to Pipits and Wagtails , Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, p. 484–495, ISBN 84-87334-69-5
- ↑ Amazing Facts about Australian Birds , by Steve Parish, Steve Parish Publishing, 1997.
- ↑ Tapper, James. The nation's favorite Attenborough moment (unknown) // Daily Mail. - Daily Mail Online, 2006. - 7 May.
- ↑ Lyrebird Recordings by Sydney Curtis Archival copy dated October 18, 2007 on the Wayback Machine - link.
- David In conversation with David Rothenberg - NewMusicBox interview including flute lyrebird story.
- Ly The Lyrebird - A Natural History , by Pauline Reilly, New South Wales University Press, 1988.
- ↑ Lyrebird: Overview - Pulse of the Planet
- ↑ Coin Making in Australia Archival Copy July 19, 2008 on Wayback Machine (eng.)
- ↑ New South Wales National Parks
- ↑ Translation of some names taken on the information database of birds Archival copy of December 2, 2006 on the Wayback Machine
- L The Lore of the Lyrebird , by Ambrose Pratt, the Endeavor Press, 1933.
Literature- Knipovich N. M. Lyrokhvost // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extras). - SPb. , 1896. - T. XVIIa.
- Biological Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ch. ed. M. S. Gilyarov ; Edited .: A. A. Baev , G. G. Winberg, G. A. Zavarzin, and others. - M .: Sov. encyclopedia , 1986. - 831 p. - 100 000 copies
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