Albert's Lyrebird
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| Menura alberti Bonaparte, 1850 |
The Albert's Lyrebird, Menura alberti is a pheasant-sized songbird, up to 90cm long, with brown upper body plumage and rich chestnut below. It is very similar with the Superb Lyrebird in its habits. This bird also mimics other species sounds.
The rarer of the two species of lyrebirds, the Albert's Lyrebird lacks the elegant lyre-shaped tail feathers of the Superb Lyrebird. It also build platforms by trampling down dense vegetation for courtship display instead of scratch up mounds. The diet consists mainly of small animals found on forest floor or from rotting logs.
Named after Prince Albert, the Prince Consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Albert's Lyrebird is inhabiting and endemic to subtropical rainforests of Australia, in small area near border of New South Wales and Queensland.
Due to ongoing habitat lost on this restricted range species gives the Albert's Lyrebird its Vulnerable status on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Menura alberti. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable
[edit] External links
- ARKive - images and movies of the Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti)
- BirdLife Species Factsheet
- IUCN Red List
- Albert's Lyrebird conservation project - Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
- Albert's Lyrebird videos on the Internet Bird Collection
