Male lyrebirds resort to artful deception in the pursuit of procreation - The Guardian

Dalziell first heard lyrebirds mimic the mobbing calls in 2007 and went on to study the ability in detail in two populations – one in Sherbrooke Forest in Victoria, the other in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales.

“Lyrebirds are using the same strategy, but doing it in a really over-the-top way, like lyrebirds seem to do,” Dalziell said.

She said they were further convinced when their camera footage showed female lyrebirds reacting to the mimicking calls and returning to display areas.

When the mimicking calls were analysed in detail, researchers could detect mobbing calls that sounded like eastern yellow robins, brown thornbills, and white-browed scrubwrens.

Occasionally, the researchers detected alarm calls that sounded like two species of possum.

The male lyrebirds always employed their deceptive trick if females tried to escape while mating, Dalziell said.

Lyrebirds will routinely mimic other species and Dalziell said their repertoire extended beyond 20 different species