Okay, but is the lyrebird a liar?

E45. Lyrebirds can copy a chainsaw, a car alarm and a camera shutter, so it is easy to call them liars. Dr. Anastasia Dalziell of Western Sydney University has spent years recording them in the wild, and she explains what the famous Attenborough clip left out and some of the most surprising evolutionary reasons for mimicry.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Why a female lyrebird starts sounding like an eagle when you get too close to her nest
• What a male does when the female he has been courting tries to walk away
• The other lyrebird, and the hooked rainforest vine it plays like an instrument

All audio, video, and images in this episode are either original to Okay, But... Birds (© Okay Media, LLC) or used under license/permission from the respective rights holders. Media from the Macaulay Library is used courtesy of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as follows:

• Red-tailed Hawk audio contributed by David McCartt, ML229578
• Killdeer audio contributed by Mike Andersen, ML129054
• Superb Lyrebird audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML229691
• Albert's Lyrebird audio contributed by Robert C. Stein, ML309505
• Gray Shrikethrush video contributed by Ramit Singal, ML641225345
• Gray Shrikethrush audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML229649
• Golden Whistler video contributed by Ramit Singal, ML641948342
• Golden Whistler audio contributed by Ramit Singal, ML272346391
• Wedge-tailed Eagle audio contributed by Vicki Powys, ML223274
• Gray Goshawk audio contributed by Ramit Singal, ML246142551
• Albert's Lyrebird video contributed by Fiona Backhouse, ML615390207
• Albert's Lyrebird audio contributed by Ramit Singal, ML141465291
• Albert's Lyrebird video contributed by Fiona Backhouse, ML615390194
• Albert's Lyrebird video contributed by Fiona Backhouse, ML615390209
• Satin Bowerbird audio contributed by Newton Hobbs, ML16236
• Albert's Lyrebird video contributed by Fiona Backhouse, ML615390211
• Superb Lyrebird audio contributed by James (Jim) Holmes, ML463586881

Superb Lyrebird recordings (2024 films): Justin Welbergen, Jaden Thompson, Elle Heiser, Yoon Lee, Fiona Backhouse and Anastasia Dalziell, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, Australia, and Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, USA.