The musical instrument called the lyre has two curved arms reaching up from the base with a series of strings stretched between them. When explorers in Australia first caught sight of a pheasant-sized bird with feathers spread out U-shaped like a lyre, they named it the lyrebird. There are two lyrebird species. We will discuss the superb lyrebird.
Only the male superb lyrebird has those beautiful feathers, which he grows by the time he is seven years old and displays from May to August as part of his courtship ritual. The rest of the year, he moves around in the forest busily scratching for insects, worms and snails with his powerful legs and claws. He is not much of a flier, but he can run fast, and he can glide short distances if he jumps to a higher perch.
The lyrebird is a great imitator. He can imitate many bird songs, but he can also imitate the bark of a dog, the noise of a chainsaw, a camera shutter, a crying baby, the meow of a cat and almost any other sound. It is much more talented than a parrot in this way.
During winter, the lyrebird looks for mates. Clearing a spot in the forest, he makes a mound and climbs up to display his 16 beautiful tail feathers. He raises them in a lyre-like shape, bending them forward over his head. He sings some of the tunes he has copied from other birds, sprinkling in other sounds he has learned as well.
He does this display dance and singing on the mound for up to 20 minutes. If a female lyrebird does not show up, he moves on to another mound, already prepared some distance away, and repeats the whole act. This may go on for several days, until finally a female appears. If she sticks around long enough to mate, she builds an oval-domed nest alone, on the ground or on a rock or in a cave. Here she usually lays just one egg. The male stays on his mounds to look for other females, taking no further interest in the female or in caring for the eggs or young chicks.
As interesting as the lyrebird is, the way he seems to live just for his own pleasure spoils our admiration of him. His actions remind us of some people who try to look good on the outside and even act kind, until they get what they want, but they are not truly good or kind. As our opening verse says, God knows the truth about the insides of each of us. We can’t fool Him about what we truly believe or by how we act before others.
Did You Know?
The lyrebird can imitate the bark of a dog, the noise of a chainsaw, a camera shutter, the meow of a cat and almost any other sound.
Messages of God’s Love 8/3/2025