Get smart curated videos delivered to your inbox.   SUBSCRIBE
The Kid Should See This

The Fanciest Bird in the World: Superb Lyrebird

Watch more with these video collections:

Captured on video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Anastasia Dalziell and University of Western Sydney’s Justin Welbergen, this is a male Superb Lyrebird, an Australian songbird who is not only a fancy dancer, as shown, but can also skillfully mimic the sounds of the environment around it. From The Lab of Ornithology:

On a carefully cleared patch of the forest floor, he begins the courtship display by fanning elaborate tail plumes over his head and quivering them to achieve a shimmering effect. He then coordinates a precisely timed song-and-dance sequence, and finishes off with a rapid-fire recital of songs borrowed from other species. When the evolutionary pressure to impress mates is at its strongest, the results can look and sound downright bizarre.

…As bizarre as a bird that sounds like a chainsaw. You may know the Lyrebird from the famous BBC Earth clip with Sir David Attenborough. Listen to it mimic a camera shutter, a kookaburra, a car alarm, and more:

Related exploration: The Lab’s All About Fancy Males interactive feature.

Related videos: Bird Song Hero and The Birds of Paradise Project.

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

🌈 Watch these videos next...

You’d Never Guess What an Acorn Woodpecker Eats

Rion Nakaya

What can we learn about stress from birds?

Rion Nakaya

Up close with a Carolina Wren as it feeds its nesting baby birds

Rion Nakaya

The Vogelkop Superb Bird-of-Paradise, a new species

Rion Nakaya

The surprising alarm-like call of the world’s loudest bird

Rion Nakaya

The song of the Hermit Thrush

Rion Nakaya

The silent flight superpower of a stealthy predator: The Owl

Rion Nakaya

The mating dance of the male Victoria’s Riflebird

Rion Nakaya

The Greater Sage-Grouse’s courtship ritual & The Sagebrush Sea

Rion Nakaya