For many of us the calls of songbirds evoke those special feelings of freedom and wilderness
that lie buried deep in our innermost being.
And of all songbirds in the world, few would rival Australia's lyrebird for the quality
and variety of its amazing calls and its spectacular courting displays.
There are two species of lyrebird, the superb lyrebird and the Albert lyrebird.
The superb lyrebird is one of the largest songbirds alive today and is not related to
any other bird family in the world.
Lyrebirds live in the southeast corner of the Australian continent along the great dividing
range that stretches from Melbourne to the Queensland border.
Recently it was introduced to the island of Tasmania where it's established a small colony.
With summer just beginning we'll start to observe a year in the life of the lyrebirds
and the other birds and animals around it.
During the year we'll spend many long hours with them in their difficult mountain terrain.
They select their habitat carefully and as long as it's not interfered with or destroyed,
most likely they'll breed in the same spot for many, many years.
Male birds select territories which can cover as much as two square kilometres.
With their loud ringing calls, each male claims its part of the forest.
And if two males meet on a border, they use bluff rather than actual combat.
Each male is joined by one or more females who in turn protect their own nesting areas
against other females.
It's early summer and the female lyrebirds have just finished feeding their last offspring.
From now on each female will have to use every minute feeding herself to build up condition
for the coming season.
Until later on she'll build the nest, incubate the egg and feed the young entirely alone
and so she'll have very little time to feed herself.
Down in one of the fern gullies there's a patch of water.
Here rose robins come down from the top canopy of the forest for a bath.
Most of their lives are spent a long way from the ground where they nest and feed.
Here's one sunbaking.
It's one of the more colourful birds in the lyrebird's environment.
When the female lyrebird arrives she takes over the water hole.
Her daily bathing is practised out of sight and usually in the evening.
But a warm day like this brought her to the water hole much earlier.
Summer is the time of year when molting takes place.
The birds lose patches of feathers and new ones grow in their place.
As she preens you can see the huge quantity of feathers on her body.
In a few months some of these feathers will be used to line the nest.
She'll pluck them out herself.
And it's during summer that the male loses his tail completely.
He becomes extremely shy and keeps well out of sight.
We were lucky enough to find a couple of his tail feathers near a creek but no sign of
the bird.
A pilot bird follows the female lyrebird from the water hole.
And yellow robins relax in the sun.
Female birds can now take over the vacant water hole again.
One of the tiniest of these is the thornbill.
It's very unusual to see pilot birds out in the open.
They spend most of their lives near or with lyrebirds.
But being very shy they usually keep out of sight.
Some of the lyrebird's habitat is dominated by ferns which grow in many shapes and sizes.
And among them are different types of creepers.
All this is part of the middle and lower level of the temperate rainforest which is the only
place where many animals like the pilot bird can survive.
Further along the gully at another soak there's a rufous fantail.
He's a migrant bird spending the warmer part of the year here in the dividing range.
And that's a pity as his delightful sideshow will be missed during the rest of the year
in the lyrebird's environment.
This little bird is the curse of bird photographers.
Constantly moving and spinning in the air it hardly ever stays still.
After a bath and a short spell of sun baking the rufous fantail returns to its nest which
is beautifully built in the shape and size of a wine glass.
Being a flycatcher most of its food is caught in flight.
Little wonder it has to be on the move all the time.
Spinning the eggs each day is very important as the embryo must always float in the middle
of the egg or it would die.
With many songbirds the female performs all the nesting duties.
However the male rufous fantail is more than eager to take his turn in brooding.
In the darker fern gullies you can find all sorts of insects like this brown butterfly.
Being territorial it will chase away any others of its kind.
Obtaining all of its food from the forest litter and the top level of rich mountain
soil the lyrebird eats all forms of insect life, mainly insect larvae and ground worms.
Ants larvae in the soil take more than a year to develop into adult beetles so wet or dry
seasons don't interfere with the lyrebird's food supply.
It only means that in dry weather the birds will have to dig harder and deeper.
Often in the lyrebird's company you'll see white-browed scrub rings.
As the name suggests these birds spend their whole lives close to the ground hunting insects
for food.
They also get as much as they can from where the lyrebird's been digging.
A couple of inches from the ground you'll find the scrub rings neat round nest with
a side entrance.
It's quite a large construction compared to the size of the tiny bird.
It's interesting to see that the little scrub ring just like most of the other ground feeders
here in the rainforest is darkly coloured, mostly brown and grey.
The dark colour gives them some protection against being ambushed by predators.
On the other hand many birds that don't live near the ground like the blue wrens and golden
whistlers can afford to be brightly coloured because they're able to see far enough to
avoid most predators.
A few weeks later one fledgling is fully grown in the rupus fantail's nest.
That's lucky as sometimes few young birds survive.
Regularly both ends of the baby have to be attended to.
Droppings are removed in a membrane so that the nest and surroundings are kept clean.
As it's summer most of these mountain birds are still nesting.
Further on in another section of the foothills there's a bell miners colony at the edge of
the forest.
They're very aggressive birds chasing away any others feeding at the same level of forest
that would compete for their food supply.
Rupus of bell miners often have as many as 20 to 30 birds.
They build several nests which are looked after by any member of the colony.
Living together in a colony like this is a form of protection against all kinds of predators.
A feral cat is frightened away by the noisy colony.
Seeking refuge deeper in the forest the cat disturbs a female lyrebird.
Feral cats are an unfortunate result of white man settlement.
Brought to Australia as lovable household pets many escaped to become vicious predators
in the bush.
Most small native animals lack any inherited protection and are easy prey for these cats.
Before the commotion over a bell miner calms itself with a drink of water.
The mountain rainforests slope down into deep fern gullies and in these rugged areas lyrebirds
select the steepest and most difficult parts for their territories.
The mountainous eucalypts are among the tallest trees in the world sometimes reaching more
than 200 feet.
They form the top canopy of the forest.
The dense forest is also home to the Rufus whistler whose song rings through the trees.
And under the heavy cover of ferns and dense growth there are patches of water.
In this one crimson rosellas often bathe.
While most brightly coloured birds of the top canopy are migratory crimson rosellas
stay in the rainforest all year round.
Their presence delays the daily bath of a pair of satin flycatchers who spend most of
their lives high in the tree tops.
Among migrating birds satin flycatchers only spend the summer in south eastern Australia.
Practically the only time to see them at ground level is when they come down for their daily
drink and bath.
While the old male lyrebird was molting and suffering with the lack of his tail he kept
silent and out of sight beneath the heavy rainforest cover.
It's hopeless to search for him then because he has a mind of his own and if he wants to
keep out of sight he certainly will.
But by now it's late summer and at last the male lyrebird appears again with his new tail
fully grown.
Without being so shy anymore he returns to his normal routine and will soon start to
sing and display occasionally.
His tail is made up of 16 feathers, two outer lyre shaped feathers from which he gets his
name, 12 feathers with lace like filaments and two wire like feathers curved at the end
which are the longest of all.
As lyrebirds only feed by digging for food they have very powerful legs.
They eat a lot of food as their frequent droppings indicate.
Of all the world's songbirds the male lyrebird is perhaps the greatest.
His own repertoire is often interwoven with the mimicked calls of other birds and the
songs can differ from place to place.
He must be the most versatile mimic in the world for while he prefers imitating the loudest
bird calls around him such as kookaburras, whipbirds, cockatoos and carawongs he just
as easily imitates the delicate sounds of small birds.
His singing isn't just entertainment it plays an important part in survival proclaiming
his feeding and breeding territory to other lyrebirds.
Not being a good flyer the lyrebird would prefer to walk or jump using his well developed
legs.
High on the list of the lyrebird's repertoire is the sound of the Australian kookaburra.
The biggest threat to the lyrebird's survival has been caused by European settlement for
with white man came all kinds of animals and plants which caused tremendous damage to the
lyrebird's environment.
But the lyrebird's awareness of its surroundings and sensitivity to danger have helped to keep
sufficient numbers alive for survival so far.
Also in the past it was mistaken for a pheasant and hunted and its beautiful tail feathers
were in demand for the European fashion market.
This caused the slaughter of many thousands of birds.
Many fungi play a part in recycling the fallen debris as every living thing fits into a food
chain either eating or being eaten.
The yellow robin is one of the permanent residents of this forest.
One of his tunes is this simple little call.
It's a typical sound during autumn here in the forest.
One day searching for lyrebirds we came across a little spring amongst the ferns visited
by a white-throated tree creeper.
Australia is very rich in bird species but surprisingly has no woodpeckers at all.
However it is well compensated with tree creepers.
Nearly all those in the world are found in Australia.
This tree creeper is joined by a red-browed finch which comes in for a drink.
They live at the edge of the forest.
Being aggressive the tree creeper bullies other birds from his path.
It's still autumn in the lyrebird's kingdom and following the sound of his song we find
the male on one of his regular perches.
Here he preens himself with great delicacy.
While doing this he raises a crest which is seldom seen.
With his beak he delicately strokes the whole length of his tail feathers putting the parted
filaments in place again.
The perfect condition of his plumage is extremely important because the heavy ground vegetation
of the rainforest is dripping with moisture most of the year and the bird has to protect
himself from getting soaked through.
After grooming finished he runs to his nearest mound to display.
As soon as he starts digging he's joined by a yellow robin.
It's one of the small birds which often follows the lyrebird about.
Scrub wrens are another.
Each scrub wren has its own territory and will stay with the lyrebird only within its
territorial borders.
The lyrebird lets all these little birds feed on the morsels it leaves behind.
With his huge feet he's able to dig up worms and grubs hidden under logs.
Yellow robins are inquisitive and tame little birds.
This yellow robin may never have seen a human being before but it wasn't long before it
took mealworms from Jenny's hand.
Anyone visiting these forests can expect to be entertained by yellow robins.
They suddenly doubt in front of you or cling motionless to anything growing vertically,
an unusual habit of theirs.
Shady ferns also provide cover for the whipbirds which live here all year round.
Although their call is a familiar sound in these forests they're one of those birds that
are often heard but hardly ever seen.
And when drinking whipbirds choose a spot which is under cover.
Some of the gullies here are filled with logs and fallen trees.
Bosses and lichens will slowly recycle all this.
Now it's late autumn and the female lyrebird starts to build her nest.
In the dark forest she selects the sticks she'll use to build the outer frame of the
nest high in the fork of a tall eucalyptus.
A stick insect hurries out of the way in case it's mistaken for building material.
This female lyrebird is building high in a tree which is a bit unusual as most nests
are on or close to the ground.
She has to work harder now to finish it in time as mating will soon take place and the
nest must be ready by then.
At this time of the year the rainforest is nearly always damp and the night's cold.
The morning sun through the heavy canopy makes steam rise from the damp logs.
These cold mornings stimulate the male bird into greater activity.
Activity which increases day by day.
The male lyrebird becomes more and more excited as mating time gets closer.
An event that is incredible to see.
In the next gully another female lyrebird has built her nest on the ground and now she's
busy collecting soft material to line the nest.
Although the male lyrebird displays and calls much more often now he still spends most of
the day digging for food.
Overhead crimson rosellas are among the tree ferns clipping the leaves to get some kind
of nourishment.
The male lyrebird clears many small mounds in the ferns where the courtship displays
take place.
The mounds are small clearings one or two metres across and about 20 centimetres high.
Each male might have up to 20 mounds in his territory.
A brush tailed possum looks on.
Females come out of its tree hollow to see what's going on.
Each male lyrebird will move from mound to mound throughout the day in an unpredictable
pattern.
The display ends with a rapid shake and he disappears once more into the ferns.
These heavy ferns are an important part of the birds territory helping to protect him
from enemies.
At one of his favourite mounds this male begins the classical display but only manages to
attract a young male.
As winter approaches the male spends more time singing and dancing and less time each
day.
In their normal position the tail feathers look very dark, nearly black, but when they're
turned over the head in display they look like a shimmering silvery white veil.
Pilot birds are insect eaters only feeding on the ground.
They often follow lyrebirds about but it's unusual to actually see one of them because
they're so dark and shy.
They keep well under cover and most of the time their presence is only suspected.
The extremely lush middle story growth of the rainforest not only provides a lot of
forest litter but keeps the ground moist as well.
In turn the moist ground makes an excellent breeding place for many insects providing
ample food for ground feeding birds.
Look at this lyrebird's tail in full display.
As it closes you'll see a curious looking crest in the rump feathers.
This crest can only be put back in position with a rapid shake.
This may have created the bird's habit of finishing every performance with a shake.
Meanwhile the female has finished her nest building and now uses every minute for feeding.
Olive whistlers stay with the lyrebird in these forests throughout the year.
They live and feed in the heaviest vegetation.
These fern gullies are the favourite haunt of other animals like wingtail possums, just
one of Australia's many marsupials.
They're nocturnal animals but this one's unexpected presence during the day disturbs a lyrebird.
Now it's winter, the nights are very cold and the day is short.
This increases the male's excitement towards courtship and mating.
Mating at this time of the year rather than in spring makes sure that by the time the
chick has to be fed the female can find enough food in the moist surface.
Later on food is harder to find as the ground surface dries out.
By now the male spends most of the day displaying trying to attract the attention of a female.
Spotting a female feeding close by it quickly jumps down.
In a highly aroused state the male starts a courtship display and attracts the female
to a mound.
Now we're going to see something that's rarely been seen by man, let alone filmed.
The male with his graceful tails swept over his head dances in a frenzy behind the female.
After a long ceremonial dance mating takes place.
So it doesn't end there.
With the female standing mesmerised the male continues in a type of ecstasy shivering his
tail towards her.
After mating the female returns to full time feeding before laying the single egg in the
nest she built some time ago.
Soon she'll start the long process of incubation which takes about 30 days.
By now the flame robins return to their favourite places in the mountains.
They are vagrant birds that always come back.
Spring returns again to the mountain forests and many birds start nesting.
The explosion of colourful blossoms attracts a lot of insect life.
In the golden wattle a grey thrush hunts for insects.
Grey thrushes songs are loud and melodious and can be heard most of the year.
As the ground starts to dry out the lyrebird has to work harder for his food.
The grey thrush finds caterpillars in the leaves more easily.
As little time was spent eating during courtship the male lyrebird now returns to his normal
feeding pattern.
Everywhere birds and animals are hunting food for their young as the grey butcherbird and
echinus are doing.
Butcherbirds are a menace to many small birds.
They steal eggs and often take helpless young birds from nests.
But of course they're a vital link in the web of life here in the forest.
To us their song is enchanting.
Near the edge of the forest there's the remains of an early settlers garden where native and
introduced plants now grow wild.
There's nectar in the flowers for a rare mountain butterfly, Maclay's swallowtail, and there
are many colourful honey eaters feeding here.
About one third of all the world's honey eaters live in Australia.
They're so well represented here because the variety of Australian bushes and trees provide
nectar the whole year round in one place or another.
Nectar in this flowering grevillea attracts eastern spinebills and crescent honey eaters.
In here and the next section of rainforest there's a stretch of open country with quite
different birds and animals.
Yellowtail black cockatoos feed in the forest but prefer to drink from an open patch of
water.
Their harsh calls are often mimicked by lyrebirds.
The cockatoos are joined at the waterhole by an echidna.
After a large meal of acidy ants the echidna needs a drink of water.
And honey eaters drink here as well and sometimes a party of new Holland honey eaters joins
them.
The echidna is mostly nocturnal but sometimes they can be seen during the day.
The echidna is one of Australia's special mammals.
It's one of only two mammals in the world that lay eggs and suckle their young.
No other honey eaters flock together like this to find safety in numbers.
This is demonstrated even better in the Banksia district as they crowd together along the
water's edge at the height of blossoming time.
Across the valley there's more tall rainforest where another lyrebird has successfully hatched
her young.
The female's throat is bulging with worms and grubs for the ever hungry chick.
This nest was built on top of a stump.
Here's another member of the lyrebird's kingdom, a grey fantail.
It's a very active little bird, a flycatcher.
Now it's late spring and the grey fantail has completed its nest.
Overhead there's a fantail cuckoo, eager to find a nest for one of its eggs.
Cuckoos never build their own nests.
They lay their eggs in other birds' nests.
When the cuckoo's egg hatches it'll be cared for by its host family.
A few weeks later we found a baby cuckoo more than filling a thornbill's nest.
In springtime the forest is filled with bird songs.
Yellow robins are busy looking after their young.
While the female keeps the young warm in the nest, the male is out searching for food.
When he returns to the nest he feeds the female and she in turn gives it to the young.
Like yellow robins all the animals are busy securing their next generation because as
long as this environment is not destroyed their life will continue.
These rainforests are home to all kinds of birds and animals and they are an irrepressible
link in the web of life here on earth.
These giant mountain ash eucalypts take centuries to grow forming a top canopy of the majestic
rainforest.
If these trees are cleared and the rainforest destroyed the plants and animals that live
here would never be able to survive as a large variety only live in rainforest.
So now we've come to the end of a year in the kingdom of lyrebirds and we're leaving
the forest with the hope that civilised man will understand that as much rainforest as
possible must be preserved forever so that these animals birds and plants can be enjoyed
by many generations to come and that these forests will be able to continue their important
role in the balance of nature to keep our earth a healthy place in which to live.