VOL. 19 {6-7) JUNE- SEPT 2002 203

Albert's from Epiphytes in Sub-canopy

Little is known about the food and foraging behaviour of Albert's LyrebirdMenura alberli, a rare species endemic to the Border Ranges of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales (Higgins et al. 2001) and listed as Vulnerable nationally (Garnett & Crowley 2000). In common with the widespread Superb Lyrebird M. novaehollandiae, it is usually regarded as exclusively a terrestrial forager, scratching for food in the soil of the forest floor (Blakers et al. 1984, Reilly 1988, Smith 1988). Albert's are confined to rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest (AM. Gilmore in Higgins et al. 2001)whereas Superb Lyrebirds occupy a greater range of habitats (Lill 1996, Higgins et al. 2001): the ranges of the two species do not overlap. From 0640 to 0650 h on 10 September 2001, we watched a male Albert's Lyrebird about 1 km from O'Reilly's Guesthouse on the Lamington Plateau, Queensland. We first noticed it sitting silently on top of the base of an epiphytic 's- Fern Asplenium australasicum 8 m above the ground, clearly aware of our presence. Then to our surprise it began scratching vigorously and pecking at presumed prey. The base of the tree was on the steep slope below us, so we were able to watch clearly with the bird only about 3 m above eye level. After a few minutes it flapped off into a nearby tree, and again landed on top of the base of an epiphytic fern, about 10 m above the ground. Once again it began scratching and pecking at revealed prey. This time the bird was more obscured from us, and we are confident that it was no longer concerned about us: this was serious foraging, not distraction activity. A pair of Eastern Yellow Robins Eopsaltria australis quickly alighted on the first Bird's-nest Fem to glean displaced . We deduced from the rapid arrival of Eastern Yellow Robins that Albert's Lyrebirds may feed regularly in similar situations. We mentioned our observation to Glen Threlfo, resident naturalist at O'Reilly's Guesthouse, and he has seen this behaviour fairly often, though he stressed that most foraging is done on the forest floor where social interactions play a role in choice of foraging site. We have subsequently heard of similar observations of Albert's Lyrebirds foraging on epiphytes (perhaps only during dry years) by David Fisher, who has visited the area annually in spring for many years. Conversely, extensive observations by AM. Gilmore (pers. comm.) have produced no records of Albert's Lyrebirds foraging on epiphytes, suggesting that the behaviour may be less prevalent in some areas than others. Epiphytic ferns are abundant in the of the Border Ranges, and trap substantial amounts of leaf-litter before it reaches the forest floor. Many bird species compete with lyrebirds for food on the rainforest floor. Logrunners Orthonyx temminckii and Eastern Whipbirds Psophodes olivaceus are abundant, and turn over leaves and twigs with vigour although they presumably lack the strength of the larger lyrebirds. Australian Brush-turkeys Alectura lathami are widespread, and particularly common near the guesthouse where they are fed by visitors. With such competition, any species may gain advantage by making use of a different substrate on the epiphytes in the forest sub-canopy. Our observations suggest that Albert's Lyrebirds have learned or evolved to do just that. This may be one of many adaptations to its habitat, which is centred on rainforest to a much S.JT~::ttf'. r (' vfPnt th-::.n f1""\r tho C' ...... ,..,,._1- r ·-- -- L ; 1 LOYN&LOYN: AUSTRALIAN 204 Albert's Lyrebird Foraging from Epiphytes BIRD WATCHER

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On our brief visit to this area, we noticed that lyrebird scratchings were abundant in wet sclerophyll forest on the rainforest edge, but less evident in the rainforest itself. This seemed paradoxical, as Albert's Lyrebirds were singing commonly in rainforest, as observed by previous workers (R. Schodde and AM. Gilmore in Higgins et al. 2001 ). If some of their foraging is done on epiphytes rather than the forest floor, Albert's Lyrebirds may be more abundant in rainforest than their scratchings .would suggest. Superb Lyrebirds have been observed and studied much more than the rarer species (Lill 1996), and we know one record of a bird scratching from accumulated debris where two large branches joined the trunk of a Messmate Eucalyptus obliqua, less than 5 m above ground level (McMahon 1997). This was done opportunistically after visiting a young bird higher in the tree, and was seen once during many months of general observation. It seems that both species of lyrebird occasionally forage above ground level, but we suspect that the behaviour may be more prevalent in Albert's Lyrebird than in the Superb Lyrebird. We are grateful to Glen Threlfo (O'Reilly's Guesthouse), David Fisher (Sunbird Tours), Ed McNabb (Arthur Rylah Institute) and Sandy Gilmore (Southern Cross University) for their comments on our observation; Alan Lill (Monash University) for comments and drawing our attention to the note on Superb Lyrebirds; and Andrew Ley and Stephen Debus for useful comments as referees.

References Blakers, M. , Davies, S.J.J.F. & Reilly, P.N. (1984), The Atlas of Australian , Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. Garnett, S.T. & Crowley, G.M. (2000), The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000, Environment Australia, Canberra. Higgins, P.J., Peter, J.M. & Steele, WK. (Eds) (2001), Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, vol. 5, Oxford University Press, Melbourne. Lill, A (1996), 'Foraging behavioural ecology of the Superb Lyrebird', Corella 20, 77- 87. McMahon, A. (1997), 'The lyrebirds from the gully', Bird Observer 777, 9-10. Reilly, P.N. (1988), the Lyrebird, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney. Smith, L.H. (1988), The Life of the Lyrebird, Heinemann, Melbourne.

RICHARD H. LOYN1 and JOHN A LOYN2

1A rthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research, Department of Natural Resources & Environment, P.O. Box 137, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084 2Gilwem, Thornhill, Cardiff, South Wales, UK. Received 21 December 2001 •