Researchers reveal the mysterious sex dance of lyrebirds

While their reputation for skilful vocal mimicry is well known, the often highly reclusive creatures can prove more than a challenge to try and see in the wild.

If you do have the chance to see one in the wild, more often than not, it will only be a fleeting glimpse.

Sometimes, you will be lucky enough to see them disappearing into the bush from the side of the road.

They have been known to make sounds varying from a camera taking a photo, various different electrical tools, even a chainsaw, numerous other birds, through to simply a person whistling.

While walking in the bush you might well hear them making their various noises - they might sound very close - think you can spot them though - good luck.

If you've been lucky enough to be able to take in the majesty of this wonderful bird for any period of time you should count yourself very lucky indeed.

Now, researchers from the University of Wollongong's School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences have been able to take us into the world of the Superb Lyrebird - and in particular this incredible creature's sex life.

Researchers have discovered a mysterious, elaborate performance by the male after mating, where in a bizarre audio-visual display, he tosses their tail over his head and dances backwards away from the female.

Despite their justified reputation for skillful vocal mimicry, during this backwards dance males only produced a regular clicking call.

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Superb Lyrebirds live in the wet forests of south-east Australia.

During the breeding season, each male builds and defends a clustered set of 'mounds'; circular patches on the forest floor that function like a stage for his sophisticated song and dance displays.

Lead author Dr Anastasia Dalziell said the new research highlighted an additional and largely overlooked functional context for complex courtship choreography in birds.

"The backwards dance and vocal clicking point to a role for sexual selection after copulation in the lyrebird's mating system," she said.

Using hidden cameras in the Blue Mountains and National Parks in Victoria, she and her team filmed nine displays by male birds after successful mating.

"In all displays, males inverted their tails over their heads with the tips of the feathers facing the female and vibrating," she said.

"In contrast, females typically remained on the display mound after copulation in silence, preening and occasionally picking up lyrebird breast feathers that had been dislodged during copulation."

Dr Dalziell called for more research into the displays but suggested a number of evolutionary explanations for the complex behaviour after mating.

These range from a need to signal the male's individual identity, an invitation to the female to mate again, or even an attempt to calm female anxiety so the sperm is more likely to be retained.

"We suspect male Superb Lyrebirds dance after copulation in an attempt to persuade females to remate," Dr Dalziell said.

"The dance has the appearance of an ornate, invitation to a male's secluded dancing arena.

"In nearly all bird species studied to date, females mate with more than one male so it is highly likely that female lyrebirds too are promiscuous.

"Another general outcome of female promiscuity in birds is for individual males to attempt to mate multiple times with the same female - mating just once with a fickle female may not be enough to father her young.

"We suggest that more study of these puzzling ornate behaviours, in both sexes and across a broader range of avian species, will likely provide important insights into the evolutionary outcomes of sexual selection in birds."