Attenborough: the amazing Lyre Bird sings like a chainsaw! Now in high quality | BBC Earth

What bird has the most elaborate, the most complex, the most beautiful song in the world? I guess there are lots of contenders but this bird must be one of them. The superb lyrebird of south Australia. He clears a space in the forest to serve as his concert platform. To persuade females the come close and admire his plumes, he sings the most complex song he can manage and he does that by copying the songs of all the other birds he hears around him, such as the kookaburra. It's a very convincing impersonation. Even the original is fooled. He can imitate the calls of at least 20 different species. He also, in his attempt to outsing his rivals, incorporates other sounds that he hears in the forest. That was a camera shutter. And again. And now a camera with a motor drive. And that's a car alarm. And now the sounds of foresters and their chainsaws working nearby.

Channel: BBC Earth

Views: 8,540,612

Rating: 4.9505119 out of 5

Keywords: BBC, Worldwide, BBCWorldwide, David, Attenborough, The, Life, of, Birds, Lyre, Bird, Impressions, Sounds, Life of Birds, David Attenborough, Lyre bird, Noises, impressions, mimic, QI Bird

Id: mSB71jNq-yQ

Length: 2min 57sec (177 seconds)

Published: Mon May 18 2009

Reddit Comments

[u/pm_me_friendfiction]

Holy shit that was amazing

[u/killerjamesbond]

I started out laughing and then i went into shock from the camera shutter sounds and then uncontrollable laughter again from the chainsaw sounds. The chainsaw impression was so mindblowing I kept thinking it was edited to be a funny skit.

[u/Leookk]

I'm impressed

[u/imKohl]

Holy shit that chainsaw imitation is lit

[u/Keyboard_Warrior805]

Woah, what the fuck? That is awesome

[u/Beerz77]

Well i just fell into a Lyre bird youtube hole, must find more

[u/Keyboard_Warrior805]

U/waterguy12

[u/[deleted]]

Wow

[u/NIGERlAN_PRINCE]

Where is this from?