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  Superb Lyrebird ( Menura novaehollandiae )



Superb Lyrebird | Menura novaehollandiae photo
Lyrebird, Blue Mountains of NSW.

Photograph by Ken Clifton. Some rights reserved.

Superb Lyrebird | Menura novaehollandiae photo
Lyrebird in tree, Sherbrooke Forest, Dandenong Ranges National Park.

Photograph by Dey Alexander. Some rights reserved.




SUPERB LYREBIRD FACTS

distribution map showing range of Menura novaehollandiae in Australia

Description
The Superb Lyrebird is a large brown bird that looks a bit like a pheasant. The wings are reddish looks like a large brown pheasant. The body is greyish-brown and wings are reddish. The adult male has a long tail with plumed feathers that it spreads out into a lyre shape when it displays. The females and immatures have long plain tails.

Other Names
Lyretail, Native Pheasant

Size
90cm

Environment
rainforest, wet eucalypt forest, woodlands, fern gullies. It spends most of its time on the ground and roosts in trees at night.

Food
uses its feet to scratch through the leaf litter for food. Eats insects, spiders, worms and other invertebrates, and also eats some seeds.

Breeding
Builds a bulky nest of sticks and bark lined with moss and feathers. The nest is o the ground or on a stump or rock ledge. Lays one grey or khaki egg, streaked with darker colours. The female builds the nest, incubates the egg and cares for the young

Range
south-eastern Australian mainland and southern Tasmania



Classification
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Menuridae
Genus:Menura
Species:novaehollandiae
Common Name:Superb Lyrebird