lyrebird, (genus Menura), either of two species of Australian birds (family Menuridae, order Passeriformes) named for the shape of their tail when spread in courtship display. The name also aptly suggests a musician. Inhabiting forests of southeastern Australia, lyrebirds are ground dwellers, and their brown bodies rather resemble those of chickens. In the so-called superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae), the male’s tail consists of eight pairs of ornate feathers, which resemble a lyre when erect. There are six pairs of filmy whitish feathers. One pair of 60–75-cm (24–30-inch) feathers that form the arms of the “lyre” are broad and curled at ...(100 of 329 words)