A video of an Australian lyrebird mimicking different sounds is viral on social media with claims that it is an unusual bird, which is seldom photographed.
The video features a lyrebird impersonating not only sounds made by other birds, but also car alarms, gun shots and camera shutters.
The clip has been doing the rounds with the narrative that multiple photographers have taken days to capture the video.
It has been captioned as, "In Tamil it is called Suraga bird. It took 19 photographers 62 days to capture this video. Share the video of this unusual bird."
The video has been shared by Lt Governor of Puducherry, Kiran Bedi as well.
In Tamil it is called Suraga bird. It took 19 photographers 62 days to capture this video.
— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) November 29, 2019
Share the video of this unusual bird.
I recvd this. Am Sharing it further as recvd. pic.twitter.com/eYZBjXKZfP
Click here to view the archive of the tweet.
Multiple replies to Bedi's tweet identified the bird as lyrebird.
This bird is called lyre bird, it can mimic even the artificial sounds, they're Australian native birds.
— Kishore (@12Kishore97) November 29, 2019
This makes sense. I'm just saying WhatsApp claims aren't verifiable.
— Truth Seeker (@TrueFactSeeker) November 29, 2019
This bird isn't actually as rare, it's also found in Australia etc. Videos of bird are available on YouTube as well. His voice is novelty, not his availability. See a longer video here,https://t.co/pn29MEyJkg
Fact Check
BOOM could ascertain that the video has been recorded in one take as there were no cuts. Also, there was no evidence to suggest that 19 photographers had captured it.
Furthermore, the camera shutter sounds were produced by the lyrebird, which is known for its mimicking skills.
The same video was uploaded on the Facebook page of ABC Adelaide, an Australian news portal, which identified it as the "incredible mimics of lyrebird from the Adelaide Zoo."
The video was also uploaded to an Australian photographer's page, Four Finger Photography and his Twitter handle. The video was shared with Adelaide as the location.
Amazing Lyrebird Australia 🇦🇺
— Four Finger (@fourfingerphoto) November 30, 2019
Four Finger Photography 📷
Copyright © https://t.co/u7da7hj90M
The photographer has also replied to Bedi's tweet stating that he made the video.
I make the video few months ago in Adelaide. https://t.co/gQxpFf4I3e
— Four Finger (@fourfingerphoto) November 30, 2019