Scientists call for Superb Lyrebird conservation status to be revised
Image: Production still from The Message of the Lyrebird (Balangara Films)
A team of scientists, including Dr Anastasia Dalziell and Dr Alex Maisey, who star in The Message of the Lyrebird have published a study about the impact of the 2019-2020 megafires on lyrebird nesting habitat in the Greater Blue Mountains Area.
The results from their paper contrast with the popular idea that superb lyrebirds are ‘okay’ with fire. In the winter preceding the 2019-2020 megafires, they conducted a field study of nest site habitat selection in the superb lyrebird within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.
The scientific study has been published in the top-ranked international ornithological journal, indicating the seriousness of these findings.
The team found that lyrebirds were very selective about where they nested, and that nests were most likely to be found in rainforest habitats; yet models showed that rainforest comprised only 1% of the Greater Blue Mountains.
They calculated that 75% of all nesting habitat burned in the 2019–2020 megafires with more than half of all rainforest habitat burned at moderate or greater severity.
The impact of the Black Summer megafires on Superb Lyrebirds appears greater than currently thought, and, in light of this new information, the scientists suggest that the species’ current conservation status of ‘Least Concern’ requires revision. They also recommended the prioritization of the protection and restoration of the species’ critical nesting habitats, especially rainforest.