Warning, we're going back to Australia for a bit. If you don't already know, I've got opinions about Australia. You can go back and look and laugh ay me if you haven't read that already.
For this post, I'm going to introduce you to the Superb Lyrebird. This picture is from the Australian Museum link below.
So, they aren't the most interesting to look at, aside from that lovely tail, but that's not what they're known for. They're known for being mimics. You think a parrot is cool because it can copy human words? The lyrebird is known for being able to mimic the calls of birds around it, chainsaws, car alarms, dog barking, and a lot of other things. It's good enough that other birds will respond like it's actually one of their own that's making the call, instead of knowing it's a lyrebird. Human ears don't stand a chance compared to that.
There's even some evidence that they can copy sounds that they hear from other lyrebirds, leading to generational learning in a way. They think this because there are some birds that have been known to make calls that can be recognized from pilot-bird research, despite pilot-birds being gone for 10 years. Then again, the birds can supposedly survive for up to 20 years, so maybe they just remember calls from their childhood.
The picture above is from the PBS link below.
There are only two types of Lyrebird, the more common Superb Lyrebird, and the less common Albert's Lyrebird. They're the only ones in their family, so they're pretty unique among birds.
Because of their notoriety, they're actually on an Australian Coin, and is one of the emblems for their Parks and Wildlife Service. They're a bit well known because they aren't rare in their habitats, and they are ground-bound mostly so they're easier to spot. They can fly, they just don't do it much.
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