Taronga Zoo's Lyrebird Mimics Evacuation Alarm After Lion Escape

A lyrebird at Sydney's Taronga Zoo has been caught mimicking the evacuation alarm a week after five lions escaped their enclosure.
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[@DeLorean4]

The evacuation alarm and baby crying are both sounds that clear out humans. He 100% knows what he's doing.

[@geronimo5537]

he nailed the auzzie accent

[@Cotif11]

That's a pretty broad assumption. Look up zoo psychosis, most animals need socialization and like human presence

[@pendlera2959]

@@Cotif11 Too much is as bad as not enough, sometimes even worse. If we gave the animals a button that made humans disappear for an hour at a time, I'm sure all of them would press it at some point.

[@YEs69th420]

@@Cotif11 They get used to human presence over time, but also get very very used to humans not being around pretty quickly. We saw after lockdowns that zoo animals struggled with the sudden increase of human activity.

[@changer4178]

😂😂😂

[@jasonboone4908]

The one that can say "evacuate now" is going to have a good time messing with people at the zoo.

[@suekaraiskos7104]

😂

[@virginiaviola5097]

Don’t take him to an airport!

[@dixietenbroeck8717]

​@@virginiaviola5097 - *OMG, **_YOU'D_** MAKE A **_FANTASTIC_** STAND-UP COMEDIAN!* 💖👍🤣👍💖

[@CP-28]

​@@virginiaviola5097Haha...yea otherwise he messes with airport announcements (and the passengers)! 😅

[@annemiura7767]

I’m surprised the news presenter didn’t know about the lyrebird’s ability to mimic a crying baby. That’s a part of Australian folklore. My mum , who grew up in the bush, told stories of people searching for crying babies only to discover it was lyrebirds.

[@USS_Liberty_never_forget]

None of them are real Australians

[@AdrianBoyko]

I’m somewhat flabbergasted that any Australian wouldn’t know about lyrebirds. I’m an American and even I know.

[@aftersexhighfives]

Doesn't seem like a real place sometimes. It's kinda sweet they hunted the crying noises to the bird though. Really wholesome to think about if it were a lost child who needed their help. ❤😅😊

[@meganwynn372]

They need something to talk about, cant just assume everyone knows about it.

[@pszczolka80]

Yep, it's happened to me personally - I've been on a bushwalk and heard a baby screaming and it just went on and on and I couldn't find anyone else anywhere on the track. I ended up hurrying the rest of the way back to the info centre to report it because I was concerned that a baby might have been abandoned out there. Apparently, the lyre bird had been doing it all day, I was not the only confused bushwalker who had mentioned it and they had considered that they might put up a sign at the start of the track to stop anyone panicking. 😂😂😂

[@LiaaaaaaaaAAAAAHH]

Why do I feel like the biggest story isn’t “the bird made a sound” but “5 LIONS ESCAPED THE ENCLOSURE!”

[@KxNOxUTA]

Because they likely spoke about that on the day when it happened already :'D

[@ianh1504]

its australia, 5 lions is as threatening to them as 5 turkeys are to americans

[@Moonstone-Redux]

​@@ianh1504If anything the lions are the ones that will be in danger after escaping their enclosure.

[@gastonbell108]

@@ianh1504 Lion: (escapes into downtown Sydney) Australian: OI CONT

[@paytonb3724]

the lions we never found

[@shitzhu16]

I watched this bird at Taronga zoo for ages. It mimicked camera clicks, chainsaws, nail guns, phone rings, people laughing. Amazing.

[@alanatolstad4824]

I saw that bird in October 2019, & could hear it mimic one of the women announcers on a mike, but couldn't quite make out what 'she' was saying!---It's exciting to find this snippet here!

[@anthonydesroches8897]

Be out in the woods hunting and it mimics a chainsaw lol

[@Vor567tez]

Chainsaw??! Where he heard that in a zoo?

[@mehere8038]

@@Vor567tez chainsaw is famously mimicked in a David Attenborough doco/video on them, they might be confusing it, or it could very well have heard chainsaws. Taronga has a lot of trees in & around it, common in storms for trees to come down & need chainsaw removal & also chainsaw maintenence of potentially dangerous branches before they fall onto someone. Leaf blowers would be expected to be a much more common sound, but I would certainly expect animals in that location to be hearing chainsaws at least occasionally. Would be much like the nailgun in terms of frequency heard, not an everyday event, but would happen

[@makingmiracleshappen]

​@@Vor567tezthere was a section of the zoo that was under renovation and and the bird could hear all the workers using their power tools lol

[@cy5282]

imagine people of ancient times hearing a baby crying outside the woods at night lmao

[@anthonydesroches8897]

Or a chainsaw while ur camping 😂

[@euantheyutyrannus]

That's what they evolved to do

[@Clums_xx]

it needs to learn and observe the sound before it can mimic it

[@dragulia_venaro]

​@@Clums_xx sometime, campers goes with their baby too. they can listen to it by accident anywhere.

[@shizukagozen777]

​@@Clums_xx Babies already existed in ancient times. 😛

[@TorchwoodPandP]

He just wants all the visitors to go home! Brilliant!

[@ValeriePallaoro]

Oh, yes, that's a smart co-relation. He wants it to be empty of people. Good catch!!

[@RotatingLocomotive]

Nope he basically just spam random sounds he heard to mate call or territorial warfare

[@Storm_Chaser325]

​@@RotatingLocomotive nah, they are smart, when calling femalea if she tries to leave the Male with let out a distressed bird call making the female stops and he mounts her, so yes they are smart, likely perhaps he wanted people to leave.

[@brucemackinnon6707]

An old bloke I know was in the bush in his secret spot getting firewood with a chainsaw. But then there was someone else with one too not far away. This went on all afternoon till he decided to visit the other guy. It was a lyrebird.

[@samholdsworth420]

Thats hilarious lol

[@prooz1364]

Imagine being lost in the forest at night and start earing a baby crying 🥶

[@YuriHabadakas]

Imagine hearing *WHOOP* *WHOOP* *WHOOP* EVACUATE NOW

[@kurtnelle]

@@YuriHabadakas And then seeing the lion pen empty.

[@anthonydesroches8897]

Or a chainsaw

[@lobstermash]

Apparently his name is Echo. I love his Aussie accent.

[@chenilleoneil1289]

He nails it!

[@hefireymilhim6151]

Mmm great name, I tend to name my pets by their characteristics if possible too

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa790]

70th like. This one is slightly personal now that I look. A total of four Red Lobsters closed in my area and I found out earlier today. How dare you remind me.

[@lobstermash]

@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa790 thoughts and prayers

[@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa790]

@@lobstermash Thank you ;u; This is the nicest thing anyone's replied to me this year (I think).

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

The "evacuate now" part was really 👌

[@mlbrooks4066]

Birds that mimic are amazing and yes, they often know what they are doing. A hotel in Florida where I used to stay had an African grey parrot that learned to mimic that sound the old Nextel phones used to make when being used as an intercom, and when an employee went by the bird would make the sound so perfectly that they poor Joe kept trying to answer his page. That bird also knew to wish you good morning in the morning and good night at night and when he saw I had my key out, he would look at me then look at it and say "I want this one" until I gave it to him to play with for a while.

[@mehere8038]

My lorikeets do a PERFECT home phone impression. If I'm waiting for a call on my home phone & am near by bird cage, it is literally impossible to tell which is "ringing". I have to keep my phone on silent as much as possible to reduce the frequency of their "ringing". I had a carer take me & my birds to the vet once & she kept looking at her phone while driving, I thought she was checking the time (cause we were running late), till she finally commented "oh, it's the bird!!!!!!!" lol I'm so used to the ringing that I hadn't even made the connection that my bird was "ringing" & carer thought it was her phone. Being a mobile, I had just assumed it's ring tone would have been different to my bird's home phone "ring"

[@user-xj8wy4uu1q]

Lol

[@oldpossum57]

You can find on YT a piece on lyrebird mimicry narrated by David Attenborough. After the bird runs through its remarkable repertoire of mechanical noises, it of course does an impeccable imitation of David Attenborough.

[@DavidSmith-eh7rs]

Not even the lyrebird can properly imitate Sir David!

[@margotrosendorn6371]

LOL not the first time lyrebirds have messed with us like this. There's stories of them mimicking the "quitting time" whistle at logging camps and confusing the hell out of workers.

[@onslaughtmp]

He noticed the annoying people go away when they hear that alarm... Smart bird! Lol

[@edwardfletcher7790]

The alarm is much less annoying than the baby, YIKES !!!

[@rnilu86]

This is the first time I am hearing a human voice from Lyrebird. Nature is amazing.

[@mlbrooks4066]

It has a great Australian accent, too.

[@johnl6176]

But to the bird, they're all just sounds.

[@AngryAmygdala]

God’s creation is amazing.

[@BenJover]

​@@AngryAmygdala Provide evidence of your god's existence before you attribute anything to it

[@AngryAmygdala]

@@BenJover The evidence is you and your ability to type and think. Humans, weak with narrow spectrum of knowledge, and they are arrogant.

[@pszczolka80]

I was once talking to a ranger and he said they'd realised that a new lyre bird had moved into an area when they heard it making some truck noises because there were no roads in that area used by trucks. At some point they realised it often specifically sounded like a truck slowing down with its engine and then accelerating, and they theorised that it must have come from an area some distance away, where there was a fairly winding road used by logging trucks. Lyre birds are so interesting.

[@meganwynn372]

Whoa, That baby crying was eerie!

[@stpdfknbch]

Extremely creepy

[@TiTi-pm4my]

Ngl I didn't expect the crying baby to sound so accurate. That is jarring and fascinating at the same time.

[@mjremy2605]

Aussie's have a great sense of humor. So do their animals. I mean - have you see a platypus?!!

[@gregorchard7881]

We had them in the river on our farm when I was a kid. sat for hours watching them.

[@melissafeds1344]

Why? What do they do?

[@kishi7479]

​@@melissafeds1344they do absolutely nothing -Phineas

[@cindyzippi4790]

Sounds like the bird even did Evacuate Now in an Australian accent 😃

[@Murglie]

Why would it have any other accent?

[@TheMimiSard]

Liv8ng in Taronga, it would have the local accent.

[@AdrianBoyko]

I guess it should have a bird accent 😂

[@stephanieellison7834]

I can't tell, as I am deaf. Did it do it with a strine accent?

[@zaiaisho6409]

There is a recording of the song of the extinct Kauai 'O'o and it sounds so hauntingly beautiful. If I were to make a suggestion, go to the zoo that houses these Lyrebirds and teach them the song of the Kauai 'O'o. I think it would be a great way of honoring a beautiful song by a lovely bird. Give it a listen and you will understand why I think it should be done.

[@sforza209]

How about you go do that? Just a thought…

[@tuxedomask7071]

Their cover version of another bird's song

[@tallyhorizzla3330]

That idea got me wondering if in fact they already do mimic the sounds of extinct animals,just passed down from generation to generation. Perhaps not this particular bird as its been exposed to our human environment but perhaps wild ones deep in the forest could be. Just a thought.

[@pendlera2959]

@@tallyhorizzla3330 That's a beautiful thought.

[@tallyhorizzla3330]

@@pendlera2959An intriguing thought, but l suppose we will never know.

[@1themaster1]

Imagine what these birds could do if they had human-like language processing. They would make their keepers go nuts on a level off the scale.

[@pierrotA]

Well I hope if thoses birds had human like processing capacities, they would not be kept in cages...

[@pendlera2959]

@@pierrotA I mean, we keep great apes, elephants, parrots, corvids, and cetaceans in cages...

[@richardbidinger2577]

That bird deserves an Academy Award for that performance. 👏 👏👏🤣🤣🤣

[@mybackyardparrots9198]

I imagine the zoo keeper is going around muttering -🤷 "dang it laddie, that's the 3rd time this week you've evacuated the zoo!😡

[@lucasgroves137]

Hilarious to hear what sounds he finds most interesting. 😅

[@mehere8038]

not sure if it applies to lyrebirds, but my birds & lots of pet ones tend to mimic what they hear when stressed. Smoke detectors are a really common one, as are swear words, cause they tend to pick up on the human being emotionally distressed at the point they are saying those words, therefore they take more note of them & learn them. Human kids do the same

[@Toshiboyai]

Lyrebird. The best mimicry on earth ❤

[@stevenbaer5999]

He can actually sound like a chainsaw, camera, camera with a motor drive, machine gun shooting, hammering, other bird calls, human voices, baby crying, construction site sounds, etc

[@Chompchompyerded]

That bird needs to go on a world tour and make itself rich beyond words.

[@mehere8038]

I am curious what it's going to do with all the money it earns...... won't have to make noise anymore, it will just be able to buy/bribe any girls it wants with mountains of gifts instead of song lol

[@Chompchompyerded]

@@mehere8038 Make it into a nest egg! 😄

[@mehere8038]

@@Chompchompyerded da da boom!

[@PaulaDautremont]

@@Chompchompyerded 😂😂😂😂

[@frog382]

Its totally mind blowing i agree, but we are so used to birds we dont stop for a moment to comprehend that these creatures can literally FLY. I think that is even more mind blowing and underappreciated.

[@angelinasouren]

Yeah, birds are amazing in all sorts of ways.

[@mozdaboz]

Also the fact that they're direct relatives of the dinosaurs make it more mind blowing

[@wildlifegardenssydney7492]

Incredible……. the most intelligent bird……the world’s greatest singer and with the most most complicated mimicry. Sad it has had to learn these awful human sounds and deal with the endless noises of humans as it sits in it’s enclosure . I have heard them in The Blue Mountains…….so beautiful and amazing.

[@litebrite8993]

I love how they didn't comment at all about the 5 escaped lions!!

[@owlhouse53]

Lyrebird does the “Evacuate now” with an Australian accent perfectly.

[@okolona1]

That bird has insane potential for Beatboxing

[@andrewmurray1550]

The Lyrebird has more mimicry in its repertoire than that guy on Police Academy.

[@madcat528]

This bird is awesome!

[@generalpurpose772]

It’s sad that this bird will never know how impressive it’s skill is to us. It’s the coolest thing I’ve seen all week.

[@caroleappling2007]

Omg, the baby crying..this bird is fantastic. And the one sing omg!!!!🥰🥰

[@SAMMl]

those are the most talented birds I've ever seen.

[@jst2708]

Sad but true. There is a bird in the rain forest that can sound like a chain saw cutting down the trees

[@will420high4]

This is insane!! What an amazing creature!

[@seyiekhrienyuusou3002]

The parrot singing "if I were a boy, I think I could understand" makes so much more sense....like seriously, we feel you.....🤣🤣

[@newfone4678]

Crying baby sound is magnificent, it's made me laugh. :)

[@ValeriePallaoro]

How intelligent. Not just the noise, which is like singing a tune, but the words too. That's just so quick though. Much faster than I expected.

[@durgeshkumarpatel7186]

Reason behind haunted sounds coming from forest😂😂😂

[@cloudforest4087]

This little s.o.b. What an amazing Bird.

[@NegativeROG]

I was a volunteer fireman in a small town, and we often worked together. One of us had a parrot. We're all working on a roof cave-in because of snow and our beepers all go off and we are diving off of ladders, sliding down hills, doing hurdles, rushing to the station. The parrot learned the extremely distinct high-pitched whistles and beeps we heard when our pagers "tripped". On many occasions, his bird caused false alarms.

[@jkl1202]

Sir David Attenborough did a talk on the Australian Superb Lyrebird and it copied his words, so you know it’s true! You’d think they have a tape recorder in them ! It also imitated the theme from Seinfeld! 😂

[@camsfour4177]

Imagine hearing baby crying or laughing in the forest at 2 am - and hence the question, why would I be all alone in a forest at 2 am?

[@iambiggus]

Lions are like damn bro you're blowing up my spot.

[@jimmygrbk2b137]

Birds are incredibly beings

[@tsugima6317]

It's amazing what they can imitate...... doorbells, car alarms, cell phone ring tones, other birds, you name it.

[@ye333]

Australia. No more explanation needed.

[@miask]

I love Lyre birds! I didn’t know they were such mimics!

[@ansonang7810]

The alarm scared every humans in the premise , probably the bird thinks its a good deterrence noise.

[@ednaselm]

That was brilliant and so funny. I didn't know a bird could copy sounds so perfectly! I love the way you kept poking at your friend about walking around filming sounds, so funny, thank you!

[@manishmandal-78]

That is definitely the funniest bird on earth 😂

[@Renville80]

Thanks for making sure closed captions for the deaf are available on this clip.

[@diamondjim7560]

I think I was on an airplane with that bird….. the baby crying sounds familiar.

[@agarcia3986]

Lyrebirds have always been this freaky. I love them so much

[@YIPPY-xf8pi]

Idk if thats perfect pitch or not, but thats pretty impressive.

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

Beautiful Creatures !

[@a.w.thompson4001]

Love the talented birds and the reporters' byplay!

[@truck6859]

Absolutely Amazing!!

[@marlenaforbes-reidy9876]

My god that bird sounds so realistic, clever bird 🐦 ❤

[@Morpheus-pt3wq]

Sounding an evacuation alarm, when it was required, shows how intelligent and aware of the world these birds are.

[@KaiLucasZachary]

What?? It did it when “required” because the actual alarm was going off. In the clip you see filmed of it here, there’s no emergency at the time.

[@Vespidazed]

Dude found the sound to be unique since he only really heard it during one day. They take noises they here and mimic them to attract mates... or to mess around.

[@DeliciousPigeonCheez]

toddlers and lyre birds: like sponges.

[@bob_._.]

So there's this Australian bird, famous the world over for its ability to mimic sounds it hears around it, and half the presenters on this Australian national news broadcast had no idea such a thing exists? Wow. Granted, it's the guys on the ends, I'm guessing Sports (the guy on the left) and Weather (the old guy on the right), but still...

[@terry_willis]

That parrot singing sounded like a Las Vegas lounge lizard.

[@caravanlifenz]

Everyone in the background is laughing when he says "evacuate now" and the poor bird is being serious.

[@weatherwitchandfelinefamiliars]

Why have I only just had this video recommendation now? This is absolutely Astounding 😮❤❤❤

[@sayedakhtar8813]

And Here We Are thinking that WE are the Only Species Who has Brain🙏🙏

[@EXPLORADVEN]

😯😯😯❤️❤️❤️😊😊😊 What an inborn talent of mimicry.

[@tracybrewer3377]

This is amazing and so well done

[@jennyfury4674]

Imagine that lyre bird imitating a mid teenager cussing

[@biancawilloughby9980]

OMG I love this!

[@vickiparrish3235]

EXCELLENT and enjoyable news clip.

[@91rummy]

Lyre bird is the wonder of the world!!

[@vivnoname]

My Amazon sings “What’s New Pussycat”, including the “Whoah whoah whoah”. He sings more when it rains.

[@jessewru6425]

This is the first time I’ve enjoyed a peice of the news.

[@margaretlowans8429]

They're brilliant mimics

Wow. Amazing nature

[@Cheezitnator]

Imagine being in the woods hearing an alarm and "evacute now". Where would you run to? Lol

[@tharuka25]

Imagine a person who hates baby crying, visiting the zoo to relax and hearing this bird mimics like baby crying 😅

[@maggiematthews3517]

Lyrebirds are truly the most excellent mimics! I can see they're going to have trouble with this one! 🤣

[@Brian-uy2tj]

You have to love the crying baby, wow, that Lyrebird really has it down pat. The baby must have been there for a while for it to have it down that well. I want to pick the bird up and cuddle him, you know, let him know its OK., lol

[@amymarie1298]

these birds are amazing! thats the first time ive seen the evacuate now video but ive seen the crying baby one many time's.

[@christinewild5935]

I had no idea they could mimic it. Very clear on saying evacuate now.

[@PhD777]

Wonderful precious little souls!😂😂😂

[@graemebrumfitt6668]

In the wild they have been heard mimicking camera motor drives, chainsaws and falling trees! Truly an amazing bird. TFS, GB :)

[@drhacknslashzombietimelord6768]

This just made my month.

[@Praetor_Fenix420]

We need more stories like this.

[@yomama8873]

That’s wonderful thank you🤩🤩🤩💖💖

[@marcielong6978]

Wow! How wonderful

[@aquibmohd]

Imagine camping in the forest, and lyrebird starts mimicking

[@kurhooni5924]

that is amazing that he rcognised this sound as an emergency aletrte and decided to use itnow ^^

[@okolona1]

I want to make an entire rock/rap band composed of these talented birds for a worldwide tour $$$

[@TheEmpressMouse]

Love it. They can imitate camera shutter sounds, mobile games, chainsaws, everything. Very interesting to watch. 1:35

[@rickedwards7276]

Lyre birds are incredible