The superb lyrebird reproduces kookaburras, car alarms, chainsaws and camera motors with eerie accuracy. But the most famous clip hides a catch about where those machine sounds really came from.
The clip that made the lyrebird famous: a male runs through other birds' calls, then a camera shutter, a car alarm and a chainsaw. Voted a favourite Attenborough moment.
A closer listen to the mechanical impressions, isolated in high definition. The accuracy of the shutter and motor-drive sounds is unsettling.
A ground-dwelling Australian songbird with one of the most complex vocal instruments in nature and a spectacular silver lyre-shaped tail.
How the lyrebird weaves stolen sounds into its courtship song, and why up to 80% of its display can be mimicry of other species.
The twist: two of the three birds in the famous clip were captives, and researchers say there's no confirmed recording of a truly wild lyrebird copying machines.
Beyond the sound effects: the lyrebird's astonishing tail, its forest-floor stage, and the courtship display the whole performance is built to serve.