Lyrebird Creek

The tall open blue gum forests and rainforest gullies of Dharug National Park provide ideal habitat for the one of the world’s most incredible songbirds, the Superb Lyrebird.

In this 38 minute single track recording, the microphones were positioned almost at water level next to a small creek in a forested gully. The delicate sound of the water trickling in the stream complements the gentle afternoon birdsong with a number of bird species calling from the nearby bushland including Grey Butcherbird, Noisy Friarbird, Red Wattlebird, Pied Currawong and Superb Lyrebird. The lyrebird was perhaps a young male practising his repertoire and mimicry, as it lacked the complexity of a typical adult male (for an example of an adult male in full song see this article) However, even an inexperienced lyrebird can produce a spectacular song and it can still be difficult to differentiate between the mimic and the real thing!