Male lyrebirds mimic deceptive sounds to trick females into mating, says study

Australia’s Superb male Lyrebird, known for its ability to accurately mimic the sounds from its surroundings, imitates the noises of a mixed-species flock in order to court a female and enhance their chances of mating. A study published in the journal Current Biology has found that the male Lyrebird tricks the female into the delusional perception of a “mobbing flock” and imitated multiple sounds of panic and alarm caused by the flock due to a predatory threat. 

The male lyrebirds may send these deceptive signals after their advances are rejected by the female lyrebird. According to the study, the birds might make noises of kookaburras, cockatoos, or sounds like camera shutters, car alarms and chainsaws to coerce the female lyrebirds species into mating. The signals might range from sinister to trickiest as these Australian birds attempt to elaborate their second mating call using lie and deception, scientists at Australian National University found. This lying behaviour of the male lyrebirds by mimicking wingbeat noises and predatory flocking of a group of birds triggers the female lyrebird into thinking that it is unsafe in another environment, therefore it stays with the male. This uncanny acoustic imitation was observed as a part of male lyrebird species courtship song. 

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“The male Superb Lyrebird creates a remarkable acoustic illusion when a potential mate tries to leave a displaying male without copulating, or during copulation itself,” Anastasia Dalziell, a researcher at  Cornell Lab of Ornithology at the University of Wollongong, Australia explained.

"These two moments are key to male reproductive success, suggesting that mimicking a mobbing flock is a crucial mating behavior for males,” she added.

Lyrebird species' 'sensory trap'

Australia’s male superb lyrebird (Menura Novaehollandiae) creates the "sensory trap" for females with layered sounds, some of the recordings captured by scientists in the Sherbrooke Forest of southeastern Australia. Elaborate research into the behaviour of these male bird species suggested that the lyrebird songs aren’t always ‘honest signal’ but mostly mimetic vocalizations. 

Similarly, the world’s loudest bird native to mountains of the northern Amazon known as the white bellbird is known to shriek some of the noisiest birdsongs ever. The ear-splitting sound of the white bellbird has smashed the record for the loudest ever heard on the planet, usually made by males for mating calls. The sounds are said to be louder than the bison’s bellows and a howler monkey’s howls according to the University of Massachusetts and the National Institute of Amazonian Research in Manaus, Brazil. 

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