Which Australian bird is famous for imitating chainsaws, camera shutters, and other sounds?

The superb lyrebird is the Australian bird famous for imitating chainsaws, camera shutters, and other sounds.

Superb lyrebirds live in moist forests of southeastern Australia, where males perform elaborate courtship displays. A male raises and fans his ornate tail over his body while singing and dancing on a display mound. His song includes natural bird calls as well as sounds copied from the surrounding environment.

Recordings have documented imitation of human-made noises, including camera shutters, alarms, engines, and chainsaws. The bird is not mechanically reproducing a recording; it is using its vocal abilities to copy sounds it has heard. Individual birds can develop distinctive repertoires.

The lyrebird’s name comes from the male’s lyre-shaped tail feathers. The superb lyrebird is different from Albert’s lyrebird, a separate and more restricted species found in Queensland. Females and young males have less elaborate tails and generally do not perform the famous display.