Male lyrebirds resort to artful deception in the pursuit of procreation

Males use vocal trickery to fool females into thinking a threat is lurking, giving them time to sow their genetic seeds

Male lyrebirds in the throes of sexual union will mimic the sound of a distressed mob of other birds to fool their mate and stop her from escaping, new research from Australia has found.

The remarkable discovery was made after analysing audio and video of superb lyrebirds - a species known for extravagant dance routines and an ability to imitate the calls of more than 20 other species.