in the forests east, and Südaustraliens live black, or Albert-lyre-tail, the two lyre-tail-types, the splendor-lyre-tail and this.
Shape The lyre-tails belong to the biggest sparrow-birds, only some raven-birds or the big paradise-bird gain a comparable height. In particular, the 16 tail-feathers are extended; with the males, the outer both tail-feathers are strongly widened and with the splendor-lyre-tail lyre-shaped bent. Two feathers have an almost "normal form", that 12 remind remaining, at a white veil. The tail-feathers of the females are not specialized; the tail consists only of 12 terraced, usual tax-feathers.
Reputations The voice of the lyre-tails is quite variation-rich. Individual sounds can be expressed shrilly and loudly; the chant is long-range and becomes composite from characteristic stanzas and the successful imitation of all possible other signals. Not rarely, two males sing in the duet.
Reproduction The Balzzeit lies in the Australian autumn. The male lyre-tails now are busy directing the attention of the females to itself through its chant and other showy behaviors. For this, they seek, points of view like stubs and branches (black-lyre-tail) increased or specifically erects itself an independent hill, that they out of soft earth together-scratch (splendor-lyre-tail), at free place in the forest for this purpose. During its dances, the long tail-feathers are tipped over so forward that the body almost vanishes under it and seeing the silvery underside is. Additionally, they sing from full neck.
Of the nest-construction, the males don't take care, because they drive polygamy. The females select a suitable Nistplatz directly at the ground, in a rock-niche or on a stub and pile up branches and other vegetable materials to a big, oven-shaped nest with lateral entrance here. The single egg has the size of a hen-egg and is incubated by the female for 6 weeks; once again for a very long time, the young remains in the nest. The mother is eager busy with feeding the young, and the nest clean-keeps closed.
Food The food of the lyre-tails consists of insects and other small invertebrates and for is looked at the ground exclusively. To the scrape, the long legs with the powerful runs are excellently suitable. Because of the type of its food-acquisition, one put the lyre-tails also to the hen-birds earlier.
Splendor-lyre-tail (Menura novaehollandiae)) This type gave the name to the family, because only here the outside-feathers of the 80 -90 cm of big male are lyre-shaped. The females are significantly smaller (45-50 cm of length) through its shorter tail.
The males of these big ground-birds are colored brown-gray on the upper side, at the underside somewhat lighter; Throat, neck, the short wings and the torso-part rather are bay; the crown and the "face" as well as the upper side of the tail-feathers are down put blue-black. With it, performs courtship display is the silvery-gray coloring of the underside of the middle tail-feathers to recognize, while knows the wide outside-feathers here, that form the "lyre", is and a special bay drawing carries. The females distinguish little for itself in the coloring.
Spread The habitat of the splendor-lyre-tails is formed from mountain-forests or moist, fern-existed lowering in Australia's southeast. The northern race also is frequent to find in open landscapes between the granite-blocks. On Tasmania, this type was introduced successfully.
Black or Albert-lyre-tail (Menura alberti)) Also this type comes in rock-hands mountain-forests before; the habitats of the two types overlap in the most northern spread-zone of the splendor-lyre-tail (Nordost-New-South-Wales and Südost-Queensland).
Characteristics The Albert-lyre-tail is broadly somewhat bigger (males 90 cm, females 65 cm) and colored more strongly bay in both sexes. The outer tail-feathers of the male (black upper side, gray underside) are not lyre-shaped bent, but even more broadly.
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