Two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds, famous for mimicking sounds around them and for the male’s huge, lyre-shaped tail, fanned out in courtship. They are poor fliers that mostly just glide downhill.
Quick answers
What is it?Bird
Carnivore?Insects only
Dangerous?No
Domesticated?No
Awake when?Daytime
Hibernates?No
Kept as a pet?No
Do people eat it?No
At a glance
Found inAustralia
HabitatForest
ColoursBrown, Grey
SizeMedium
Length86–100 cm, including tail (superb lyrebird)
WeightFemales about 0.9 kg, males about 1.1 kg
Legs2
Covered inFeathers
Lives alone
Lives for20–30 years
Can fly
Lays eggs
In the wild
- Where it lives
- Eastern Australia: rainforests of Victoria, New South Wales and southeast Queensland; introduced to Tasmania.
- What it eats
- Insects, spiders, earthworms and other invertebrates, sometimes lizards, frogs and seeds.
Did you know
Has been recorded mimicking chainsaws, car alarms and camera shutters.
In the breeding season males may sing for four hours a day.
Lyrebirds can live up to 30 years.
Often confused with
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