Albert's lyrebird (Menura alberti), also known as Northern lyrebird, is a timid, pheasant-sized songbird which is endemic to subtropical rainforests of Australia, in a small area on the state border between New South Wales and Queensland. The rarer of the two species of lyrebirds, Albert's lyrebird is named after Prince Albert, the prince consort of Queen Victoria, queen of the United Kingdom. It lacks the elegant lyre-shaped tail feathers of the superb lyrebird and is found in a much more restricted range.
The total population of Albert's lyrebirds was estimated at only 3,500 breeding birds in 2000, with one of the smallest distributional ranges of any bird on the continent.
Naming
Due to its remote habitat, Menura alberti had not been discovered when famous English ornithologist John Gould first published his Birds of Australia in 1848, although he named it (after Prince Albert) and added it in a supplement in 1850. Under taxonomic convention, he would normally have been assigned the credit for describing the species and assigning its scientific name. However, the credit as scientific describer instead went to French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of Napoleon, who made reference to Gould's description of the new species before the publication of the supplement in 1850. So on this technicality, he was credited for describing it.[3]
The first man to have shot one of the birds (in 1844) was amateur naturalist Augustus Adolphus Leycester,[3] who also claimed to have found and sent an egg of the bird to London before Gould. However at this time he had not realised that it was a new species, assuming that it was the similar species M. superba (superb lyrebird).[4] Lycester informally named the bird "small lyrebird", "Prince Albert’s Lyrebird", and "Richmond River Lyrebird" (the latter for the area in which he found it, Richmond River in northern New South Wales,.[3] and said that the Aboriginal name for the bird was "Calwin". Leycester, who had recently settled on Tunstall Station in the location now known as Tuncester, wrote in 1880 that he had sent a description of the habits of menura alberti to Gould.[4]
Albert's lyrebird is a ground-dwelling bird. Females reach approximately 75cm (30in) in length and males reach about 90cm (35in). They have a wingspan of 76–79cm (30–31in) and weigh about 930g (33oz). They are chestnut-brown in colour with a rufous undertail, rump, and throat. The bill is black; the iris dark brown or black, and it has a broad, blue-grey ring around the eye. The legs and feet are brownish grey to dark grey or black.[5]
The sexes are alike except for the shape of the tail. The male has a spectacular tail composed of: (1) a central pair of long ribbon-like dark-brown median plumes; (2) six pairs of long, filmy and luxuriant filamentary feathers, which are black-brown above and dark grey below; and (3) a long broad fully webbed outermost pair of lyrates, which are black-brown above and dark grey below.[5]
The tail of the female is shorter, simpler, slightly drooping and appears more pointed when closed; it is composed of a pair of long, narrow and tapered median plumes, and fully webbed, broad, brown feathers with rounded tips, but lacks filamentaries. When walking, the male carries its tail in an upward-curving train.[6]
Juveniles are separable from adults at close range. They are similar to the adult female, but can be distinguished by: (1) the richer and more uniform rufous-brown colouring on the chin, throat and foreneck, and brighter red-brown wash on the forehead and forecrown; (2) the slightly paler upperbody; (3) the softer, downy texture of the rump, lower belly and vent feathers; and, most importantly, (4) the tail feathers (excluding the central pair of medians) are distinctly narrower, more tapered and pointed.[6]
Voice
Both this species and the superb lyrebird have powerful, flexible voices and use a mixture of their own calls and mimicry of other species in long unbroken passages of song. In comparison to the superb lyrebird, the Albert's lyrebird limits its mimicry to a smaller range of species, with the green catbird and satin bowerbird featuring strongly in its imitations,[7] as well as whipbirds and rosellas.
The voice can create sounds at one moment deep and resonant, switch to high thin squeaks and trills, then change again to harsh noises. Some of the passages of song begin with a soft, mellow sound that rises clearer and louder, which has been likened to the howl of a dingo.[7] The Albert's lyrebird's own song shows geographic variation, and different populations can be distinguished by this variation in song.[8]
The mimicry is arranged into sequences that are repeated with only moderate variations. The males learn these sequences from other lyrebirds through social transmission, so that males within a location share the same sequence of mimetic songs.[9]
The males call for many hours a day during the peak of the winter breeding season and are quiet at other times. In alarm, the birds give a shrill shriek. Even when calling strongly, this shy and elusive species is not easily sighted in the dense tangled vegetation of its habitat with dim light and the birds notoriously wary.[7]
Habitat and distribution
O'Reilly's Lodge - Australia
The extent of the Albert lyrebird's distribution has apparently declined significantly following European settlement. Much of the lyrebird's habitat was cleared during the 19th century.[10] Although the species was still widespread in lowland areas at the beginning of the 20th century,[6] the continued clearing of habitat since then has driven most populations into higher altitude forests, usually at least 300 metres above sea level.[11][6] In the past, Albert's lyrebirds were shot to be eaten in pies, to supply tail-feathers to "globe-trotting curio-hunters" or by vandals.[12]
The total population of Albert's lyrebirds was estimated at only 3,500 breeding birds in 2000,[10] with one of the smallest distributional ranges of any bird on the continent.[13] The bird's distribution is now restricted to several small areas of mountain ranges in the vicinity of far south-east Queensland and far north-east New South Wales; with much of the remaining habitat occurring in reserves. In Queensland, the Albert's lyrebird is found from Tamborine Mountain and Springbrook National Park in the east, to the McPherson Range in the west. Isolated populations exist in Mount Barney National Park and on the Main Range.[14] The largest single population is found on the Lamington Plateau. Albert's lyrebirds were formerly recorded from the Sunshine Coast hinterland and from the D'Aguilar Ranges but have since disappeared from these areas.[citation needed]
The birds have a preference for rainforest with a dense understorey of vines and shrubs, or wet sclerophyll forest with a dense understorey of rainforest plants, including temperate rainforest. They are occasionally recorded in areas with mixed eucalypt forest, with a mesic understorey, around gullies and lower slopes, and with small amounts of rainforest in wet gullies.[6]
The composition of plant species within these forests does not appear to be important except that a canopy of eucalypts is always associated with higher population densities when compared to rainforests that lack eucalypts (at sites with equivalent climates). Population densities increase along a gradient of increasing rainfall and decreasing mean annual temperature; with decreasing moisture index, the density of males declines and individuals become increasingly restricted to areas around gullies. In comparisons of wet sclerophyll forest and rainforest with equivalent climate and moisture index, higher densities always occur in wet sclerophyll forest and are associated with the greater weights of litter and logs and slower rates of litter decomposition.[6]
Steep moist valleys and other areas that are physically or geographically protected from wildfire are likely to offer important refuge habitat.[5]
Albert's lyrebird usually occurs singly or in pairs, or rarely in groups of three. It is sedentary (non-migratory), and remains in the same general area year-round. Males are territorial during the breeding season.[6] Females seem to have their own separate territories, which partly overlap that of the male, and which they defend as feeding grounds rather than as the centre of a mating site.[15] Data on territory sizes has only been recorded for males. Male territories are said to usually comprise an area of 5–15ha (12–37 acres).[5]
Breeding and life cycle
The mating system of Albert's lyrebird is unknown;[12] although the male courtship display has been well documented. The male birds use a flat piece of ground from which all debris has been raked for a stage, rather than a mound of debris as used by the superb lyrebird. In display, the male initially raises his tail to arch forwards above the head, then gradually lowers and shimmers it forwards until the bird is enveloped beneath the veil of fine bushy filaments, these are silvery with the shiny white underside of the plumes uppermost.[16] There is no evidence of any lasting pair-bond between the male and female.[16]
Throughout the species' range, eggs have been recorded from late May to mid-August. They nest beneath the canopy, usually in the darkest areas of the forest. Nests are often located in rocky areas, usually on ledges, in clefts or between rocks, or occasionally in caves, on rock or cliff-faces, or in deep rocky ravines; nests in such places are sometimes located near waterfalls. Nests may also be placed in a variety of other sites, including on the ground on steep slopes, on creek banks, between buttress roots of fig (Ficus) trees, amongst tree stumps, at the base of palm trees, amongst ferns, in dense shrubs or occasionally in tree forks.[6]
Females sometimes nest close to sites used the previous year; occasionally, nest-sites may be re-used. The female alone builds the dome-shaped nest, which has a side entrance; it is composed of sticks, fern fronds, rootlets, bark, pieces of palm leaf and moss, and is lined with moss, fine plant material, and feathers. Construction of the nest may take at least three weeks.[6] The overall appearance is rather like a pile of accumulated rainforest debris, which makes the nest quite inconspicuous.[15]
Clutch-size is a single egg. The eggs can vary greatly in colour and, sometimes, shape, but are usually shaded brown or grey with spots and blotches, and sometimes other markings, of varying tones of brown and grey. The female incubates the eggs and feeds and broods the nestlings without any help from the male. The young fledge at approximately five and a half weeks. No information is available on breeding success, but it is claimed that a maximum of one brood may be reared in a season.[15][6]
Albert's lyrebird appears to feed mainly on insects (including beetles) and their larvae, and other soil-dwelling invertebrates. They usually find food on the ground, particularly in areas with deep moist leaf litter and fallen logs,[6] but they also forage occasionally in epiphytic ferns.[17] They typically forage in areas that are rather open and lack dense shrub cover but have well developed taller strata. When foraging on the ground they scratch among debris, turn over leaves and dig into soil in search of invertebrate prey;[6] birds foraging in epiphytes were observed scratching and pecking.[17]
The major threats to Albert's lyrebird include the intense management of forests and the replacement of optimal habitat with plantations of unsuitable species, such as eucalypts or hoop pines;[10] invasion of logged or otherwise damaged habitat by weeds, especially Lantana camara, which reduces suitability of the habitat; damage to habitat by grazing stock; encroachment of urban or rural development close to habitat of Albert's lyrebirds; and predation by introduced red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), feral dogs and cats, and domestic dogs and cats, where the birds are located close to human settlements.[18]
Some isolated populations are threatened simply because they are so small, and because population densities are lower than expected in optimal habitats close to areas of human settlement.[10][13]
Global warming and its anticipated effects (habitat change, alteration to fire frequency/intensity) could be a potential threat to the lyrebird in the future and large-scale fires could potentially impact upon the entire population.[12]
Because the range of the species is confined to such a small geographic area, a threatening event, such as a severe regional drought, has the potential to affect all individuals.[5]
Related Research Articles
A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus Menura, and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment, and the striking beauty of the male bird's huge tail when it is fanned out in courtship display. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral-coloured tailfeathers and are among Australia's best-known native birds.
There are seven species of Australasian treecreeper in the passerine bird family Climacteridae. They are medium-small, mostly brown birds with patterning on their underparts, and all are endemic to Australia-New Guinea. They resemble, but are not closely related to, the Holarctic treecreepers. The family is one of several families identified by DNA–DNA hybridisation studies to be part of the Australo-Papuan songbird radiation. There is some molecular support for suggesting that their closest relatives are the large lyrebirds.
The flame robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted Petroica robins—the scarlet robin and the red-capped robin—it is often simply called the robin redbreast. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. Measuring 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) long, the flame robin has dark brown eyes and a small thin black bill. The male has a brilliant orange-red chest and throat, and a white patch on the forehead above the bill. Its upper parts are iron-grey with white bars, and its tail black with white tips. Female coloration is a muted grey-brown. Its song has been described as the most musical of its genus.
Kalorama is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 35 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Kalorama recorded a population of 1,277 at the 2021 census.
The noisy miner is a bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, and is endemic to eastern and southeastern Australia. This miner is a grey bird, with a black head, orange-yellow beak and feet, a distinctive yellow patch behind the eye, and white tips on the tail feathers. The Tasmanian subspecies has a more intense yellow panel in the wing, and a broader white tip to the tail. Males, females and juveniles are similar in appearance, though young birds are a brownish-grey. As the common name suggests, the noisy miner is a vocal species with a large range of songs, calls, scoldings and alarms, and almost constant vocalisations, particularly from young birds. One of four species in the genus Manorina, the noisy miner itself is divided into four subspecies. The separation of the Tasmanian M. m. leachi is of long standing, and the mainland birds were further split in 1999.
The wonga pigeon or wonga wonga is a pigeon that inhabits areas in eastern Australia with its range being from Central Queensland to Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia.
The black falcon is a medium-large falcon that is endemic to Australia. It can be found in all mainland states and territories and yet is regarded as Australia's most under-studied falcon.
The green catbird is a species of bowerbird found in subtropical forests along the east coast of Australia, from southeastern Queensland to southern New South Wales. It is named after its distinctive call which sounds like a cat meowing, although it has also been mistaken for a crying child. The green catbird resembles the spotted catbird, which is found in wet tropical rainforests of Far North Queensland.
The superb lyrebird is an Australian passerine songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae, with the other being the much rarer Albert's lyrebird. It is one of the world's largest songbirds, and is renowned for its elaborate tail and courtship displays, and its excellent mimicry. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in forest in the southeast of the country. According to David Attenborough, the superb lyrebird displays one of the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom—"the most elaborate, the most complex, and the most beautiful".
The golden bowerbird is a species of bird in the family Ptilonorhynchidae, the bowerbirds. It is endemic to Queensland in Australia, where it is limited to the Atherton region.
The spotted catbird is a species of bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchidae) which can be found in north Queensland, the eastern Moluccas and New Guinea. Although it is a member of the bowerbird family it does not build a bower.
The genus Ptiloris consists of four allopatric species of birds in the family Paradisaeidae. These birds of paradise are commonly known as riflebirds, so named for the likeness of their black velvety plumage to the uniform of the Rifle Brigade. Alternatively, the bird's cry is similar to a rifle being fired and hitting its target but a call like this is not commonly reported. They are distributed in the rainforests of New Guinea and Eastern Australia.
The Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle is an endangered bird of Tasmania. It is a subspecies of the more common wedge-tailed eagle.
The brown honeyeater is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It belongs to the honeyeaters, a group of birds which have highly developed brush-tipped tongues adapted for nectar feeding. Honeyeaters are found mainly in Australia, New Guinea, and parts of Indonesia, but the brown honeyeater is unique in that it also occurs on the island of Bali, making it the only honeyeater to be found west of the Wallace Line, the biogeographical boundary between the Australian-Papuan and Oriental zoogeographical regions.
The striped honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae, found in Australia. It is a medium-sized honeyeater, about 23 cm (9.1 in) in length. Both sexes are a light greyish brown with dark brown centres to the feathers, which give the appearance of stripes. The stripes are particularly distinct on the head and back of the neck. While it is found mainly in inland eastern Australia where it inhabits the drier open forest, it is also found in coastal swamp forest from southeast Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.
The crescent honeyeater is a passerine bird of the honeyeater family Meliphagidae native to southeastern Australia. A member of the genus Phylidonyris, it is most closely related to the common New Holland honeyeater and the white-cheeked honeyeater. Two subspecies are recognized, with P. p. halmaturinus restricted in range to Kangaroo Island and the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia.
The red-winged fairywren is a species of passerine bird in the Australasian wren family, Maluridae. It is non-migratory and endemic to the southwestern corner of Western Australia. Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male adopts a brilliantly coloured breeding plumage, with an iridescent silvery-blue crown, ear coverts and upper back, red shoulders, contrasting with a black throat, grey-brown tail and wings and pale underparts. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles have predominantly grey-brown plumage, though males may bear isolated blue and black feathers. No separate subspecies are recognised. Similar in appearance and closely related to the variegated fairywren and the blue-breasted fairywren, it is regarded as a separate species as no intermediate forms have been recorded where their ranges overlap. Though the red-winged fairywren is locally common, there is evidence of a decline in numbers.
The rose robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. Like many brightly coloured robins of the Petroicidae, it is sexually dimorphic. The male has a distinctive pink breast. Its upperparts are dark grey with white frons, and its tail black with white tips. The underparts and shoulder are white. The female is an undistinguished grey-brown. The robin has a small black bill and eyes.
The pilotbird is a species of passerine bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is monotypic within the genus Pycnoptilus. The species is endemic to south-eastern Australia.
The eastern shriketit is a species of passerine bird in the family Falcunculidae. It is also known as bark tit, crested tit or yellow-bellied tit.
1 2 3 4 Garnett, S.T. & G.M. Crowley (2000). The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000. [Online]. Canberra, ACT: Environment Australia and Birds Australia. Available from: "Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000". Archived from the original on 14 August 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2020..
1 2 Gilmore, A. (2000). "Distributional ecology of the Albert's Lyrebird, Menura alberti, in north-east New South Wales." Astheimer, L.B. & M.F. Clarke, eds. The 2nd Southern Hemisphere Ornithological Congress. Birds Australia Report Series 9.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
