Petty news today from the animal kingdom: a lyrebird at Taronga Zoo has been blasting the "evacuate now" alarm with eerie accuracy since the lions escaped their enclosure less than two weeks ago.
Though according to an interview on ABC Radio with an expert on lyrebird language, the sardonic bird has been singing the alarm for some time: "The zoo and a lyrebird expert have thrown cold water on the reports, and say the bird is actually making the sound of the fire alarm – something it's done for years." It doesn't make the bird's antics any less amusing.
The bird has swapped out its usual mimic of a baby crying for the blood-chilling alarm that also sounded when five lions slipped out of their exhibit around 6.30am on November 2. The lyrebird even has an Australian accent. Lyrebirds are one of nature's most impressive (and petty) mimickers and have been recorded copying sounds of construction, car alarms, other bird-folk like kookaburras, and now, the sound that will continue to send shivers down zoo handlers' backs for years to come.
Shine on, you crazy diamond. May we all aspire to this level of deep-cuts.