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Male and female lyrebirds have small heads, long legs, tails, and necks, and large feet with powerful claws.
Male and female lyrebirds have small heads, long legs, tails, and necks, and large feet with powerful claws. Because of their weak, short wings, they seldom fly. Lyrebirds have short, sharp, slightly down-turned bills that they use for picking prey out of leaf litter.
They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment, and the striking beauty of the male bird's huge tail when it is fanned out in courtship display. Lyrebirds have unique plumes of neutral-coloured tailfeathers and are among Australia's best-known native birds.