We study the acoustic accuracy, context and possible functions of avian vocal mimicry.

Many bird mimic the calls or songs of other species, but in most cases we do not know the function of such mimicry. Mimicry is sometimes thought be mistaken copying of other species sounds, as a non-adaptive side effect of the mechanism of learning conspecific songs. There are many avenues for research. We have examined the acoustic accuracy, context and possible functions of mimicry. Field studies include superb, one of the world’s most celebrated mimics, Albert's lyrebirds, is relatively unknown sister species, and brown thornbills, perhaps the world’s least celebrated mimic - at least until recently! The work on lyrebirds has also revealed a remarkably complex song-and-dance display, in which repertoires of song are coordinated with repertoires of dance moves. Currently, we have a new ARC grant to examine mimicry on a broad scale in Australian birds. The work is done in collaboration with Justin Welbergen, Anastasia Dalziell & Fiona Backhouse (Western Sydney University), and Kushini Kalapahana and Naomi Langmore (ANU), Karan Odom (University of Maryland), and Joah Madden (University of Exeter).

Related publications

Backhouse, F., Welbergen, J., Magrath, R. D. & Dalziell, A.H. 2023. Depleted cultural richness of an avian vocal mimic in fragmented habitat. Diversity & Distributions, 29: 109-122.

Dalziell, A. H., Welbergen, J., Magrath, R. D. 2022. Male superb lyrebirds mimic functionally-distinct heterospecific vocalisations during different modes of sexual display. Animal Behaviour, 188: 181-196.

Backhouse, F., Dalziell, A. H., Magrath, R. D., & Welbergen, J. A. 2022. Higher-order sequences of vocal mimicry performed by male Albert’s lyrebirds are socially transmitted and enhance acoustic contrast. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 289: 20212498.

Dalziell, A. H., Maisey, A. C., Magrath, R. D., & Welbergen, J. A. 2021 Male lyrebirds create a complex illusion of a mobbing flock during courtship and copulation. Current Biology 31, 1-7.

Backhouse, F., Dalziell, A. H., Magrath, R. D., Rice, A., Crisologo, T. L. & Welbergen, J. A. 2021 Differential geographic patterns in song components of male Albert’s lyrebirds. Ecology & Evolution, 11: 2701-2716.

Magrath, R. D., Haff, T. M. & Igic, B. 2020. Interspecific communication: gaining information from heterospecific alarm calls. In Coding Strategies in Vertebrate Acoustic Communication (Eds. T. Aubin & N. Mathevon). Heidelberg: Springer.

• Igic, B., McLachlan, J., Lehtinen, I. & Magrath, R. D. 2015. Crying wolf to a predator: deceptive vocal mimicry by a bird protecting young. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B, 282: 20150798.
• Dalziell, A. H., Welbergen, J. A., Igic, B. & R. D. Magrath. 2014. Avian vocal mimicry: a unified conceptual framework. Biological Reviews, 90: 643-658.
• Igic, B. & Magrath, R. D. 2014. A songbird mimics different heterospecific alarm calls in response to different types of threat. Behavioral Ecology, 25: 538–548.
• Dalziell, A.H., Peters, R.A., Cockburn, A., Dorland, D.D., Maisey, A.C. & Magrath, R.D. 2013. Dance choreography is coordinated with song repertoire in a complex avian display. Current Biology, 23 (12): 1132-1135.
• Igic, B. & Magrath, R. D. 2013. Fidelity of vocal mimicry: identification and accuracy of mimicry of heterospecific alarm calls by the brown thornbill. Animal Behaviour, 85: 593-603.
• Dalziell, A. H. & Magrath, R. D. 2012. Fooling the experts: accurate vocal mimicry in the song of the superb lyrebird, Menura novaehollandiae. Animal Behaviour, 83: 1401-1410.
• See Media articles related to this project.