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Project Noah Nature School
Menura novaehollandiae
Young breeding age male exhibiting the beautiful tail feathers characteristic of the species.Forages through leaf litter for grubs, beetles, larvae, worms, insects. Strong feet and claws used for scraping away heavy leaf litter and sticks. Adults reach up to 100cm, grey toned feather colour, faint russet brown colour on some individuals, male's tail whne breeding is made up of fine gossamer like feathers and two outer lyre-shaped feathers with orange and dark pattern curled at tip, females are similar in body colour but tail feathers less elaborate. The lyrebirds are known for their song and mimicry of other sounds both natural and man-made.
Found throughout south east Australia from Queensland, through NSW, Victoria. Prefers moist dark gullies, but also inhabits more open and drier forests nearby. This one in rainforest of northern NSW Tablelands country.
Spotted on Jul 7, 2014
Submitted on Aug 10, 2014
3 Comments
Thank you Ernst. Indeed very special birds, our National Parks Service emblem in NSW, and falling into the category of threatened species in many areas (particularly the Alberts Lyrebird).
Thanks MacC! It's always magical to get so close and have these birds allow you to photograph and record them. This one was singing away happily on the perch.
Nice one KD