polygyny, with a single male mating with several females. A male's territory can overlap with up to six female territories. Within his territory, the male will construct several circular mounds of bare dirt on the forest floor, for the purpose of conducting courtship displays. These mounds are defended vigorously from other males. There is strong sexual selection in lyrebirds, with females visiting the territories of several different males and choosing the most desirable males with which to copulate. When a male encounters a female lyrebird, he performs an elaborate courtship display on the nearest mound. This display incorporates both song and dance elements. The male fans out his tail horizontally to cover his entire body and head. The tail feathers are vibrated, and the lyrebird beats his wings against his body and struts around the mound. He also sings loudly, incorporating his own vocalisations with mimicry of other bird calls. After mating, the male performs an ornate postcopulatory display shaking his tail while producing a soft clicking sound. Throughout, he faces the female and often will walk backwards. A study has found evidence that the lyrebirds’ ‘dance choreography’ is highly coordinated to different types of song repertoire. Coordination of movement with acoustic signals is a trait previously thought to be unique to humans, and indicates high cognitive ability. Females are the sole providers of parental care. They build large domed nests out of sticks on raised earth platforms. Nests are most likely to be located in wetter areas with deep leaf litter and high understory vegetation complexity, reflecting the requirements of food availability and protection from predators. The female breeds once per year in winter, usually laying a single egg. Eggs are laid in a deep bed of lyrebird feathers within the nest, and are then incubated by the female for up to 7 weeks. Post-fledging parental care lasts several months, with the female exerting significant energy in feeding and brooding the nestling. Vocalisation and mimicry The superb lyrebird is renowned for its elaborate vocal mimicry, with an estimated 70-80% of the male's vocalisations consisting of imitations of other species, mostly other birds but occasionally marsupials. Females also sing, regularly producing both lyrebird-specific song and vocal mimicry. Both sexes can intersperse vocal mimicry with lyrebird-specific vocalisations including songs and alarm calls. The mimicry of the superb lyrebird is highly accurate, with even the model species at times unable to distinguish