So I know the link I have above isn't the most scientific reference , but this bird is quite fascinating. The Lyre bird is able to mimic any sound it hears. This is truly remarkable considering we went through examples a couple weeks ago where if a bird does not hear the correct song, the song can get distorted. The lyre bird's main song is a mixture of seven elements of its own song and any number of other mimicked songs and noises. They are able to mimic other animals as well such as koalas and dingos. The lyre bird's have the most complex syrinx compared to other songbirds. This allows for it to have unmatched mimicry. Lyre Birds will hear any noise and incorporate those notes into their songs.
The question then remains , how is it that the lyres are able to process all these notes and still be able to recognize their own species calls. Since each lyre may hear different things, each song must be very unique from each other.
Posted by Jobin
Is there a reason for why Lyrebirds evolved the ability to mimic the sounds and calls of other species to such a great extent? I do not see any blatant advantages for the Lyrebird to mimic other animals, unless they use these calls to scare off predators. Do you know if any research as been done on Lyrebird calls?
ReplyDeletePosted by James Lin
Hi Jobin,
ReplyDeleteThis is just fascinating. I had the same question when I was reading your post too. Also does the lyre bird attract other animals to mate with them like beside attracting another lyre bird does it also attract dingos and koalas.
Also this trait that they have is very usseful when they are foraging because they can attract prey by mimicing their song and then ultimately attack it.
Posted by Whitney Huynh
Interesting post. What do you think the advantages of incorporating another birds song into its own are? Is this a song that is used in mating? What does the ability to mimic confer to another lyre bird?
ReplyDeletePosted by Michael Thomas
I wonder if this ability has anything to do with the ability to understand other species' alarm calls that we learned about before- maybe since Lyre birds are able to mimic other species' calls, they can also understand their alarm calls?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder what characteristics of other species' songs that they prefer to include in their mating songs? Do they just vary depending on what other species are nearby, or do they consistently use the same foreign notes?
I wonder what benefit was so advantageous that they evolved such a complex syrinx in order to be able to do this?
Posted by Johanna Brophy
This seems like an odd adaption to have. I would imagine that the females might have a hard time recognizing the male if he was making koala sounds. I could understand that showing a wide range of songs will prove your fitness, but how can the female recognize the female. Perhaps the main song lures the females in. The car alarm and the camera shutter are amazing!!!! Is this really real??!
ReplyDeletePosted by Caroline Adams
O yes, the Lyre bird. I don't know how many times I've seen that clip throughout my biology career, but it never gets old. I do agree with my our fellow classmates in wondering what possibly evolutionary advantage mimicry plays. Perhaps the females just have ADD and need to always hear something. OR, as a real theory, perhaps an ancestor of this species added a mimiced call to its song and received immediate attention from females. So, it had a more successful reproduction, and its offspring all can make a call and add it to a song. Add in competition from other birds from their species who also start adding mimiced sounds into their songs and you start seeing mimicry go mainstream.
ReplyDeletePosted by Austin Gray
So I did some research on the lyrebird based on a lot of the questions from the post, and I found out the lyrebirds are the most ancient songbirds. Because they have been around for a long time, the mimicked calls are passed on. So the fact that they know so many noises is because of generations of mimicry. The benefits of this mimicry will help the bird understand their surroundings .
ReplyDeletePosted by Jobin
The lyre bird is a truly incredible species. I have even seen videos where it can mimic human interactions such as the noise of a chain saw. I wonder about the anatomy of the lyre bird's vocal box. Does is it have extra muscles in its syrinx or elongated trachea?
ReplyDeletePosted by Nick Gast
I remember learning about this bird in my linguistics class, and it truly fascinated me! I also wonder how this species is able to produce such as variation of sound, but since it has been around the longest, it makes sense that it would develop a more complex vocal system over time. I wonder if the bird uses this mimicry to their advantage, or if they mimic any sound they hear for no particular reason.
ReplyDeletePosted by Sara Corey