Lyrebirds losing their voices and habitat
Joanna Guelas |
Lyrebirds are running out of songs to sing because of habitat loss.
A study by Western Sydney University found male Albert’s lyrebirds living in isolated areas have lost their expansive repertoire and are mimicking fewer animals.
Lead researcher Fiona Backhouse says it is because lyrebirds learn songs from listening to other birds.
“It’s like us not being very good at speaking our own language,” Ms Backhouse told AAP.
Albert’s lyrebirds are renowned for their remarkable mimetic abilities, which include their own vocalisations as well as mimicry of other animals and environmental sounds.
“Where there’s less habitat, there’s less lyrebirds, which means fewer opportunities to learn and increase their vocalisations,” Ms Backhouse said.
The birds are also poor flyers and unable to travel large distances, so they are often trapped in unsuitable habitats.
Albert’s lyrebirds are only found in a small region of subtropical rainforest in mountainous areas between NSW and Queensland.
Researchers are also concerned the species may disappear altogether.
“If the males no longer have impressive repertoires, the females won’t want to mate with them,” Ms Backhouse said.
“These populations will get even smaller.”
Good habitat connectivity is important for movement and exchange between species for the lyrebirds to continue singing and mating, the study found.
It said making sure forests are healthy and reforesting areas previously cleared will be essential for protecting Australia’s songbirds.
AAP
