Birdman tells the story of Australia's greatest mimics

But a Victorian videographer is proving the beloved native birds are best seen, not just heard.

JeremyFilmsThings has made a name for himself showcasing Australian wildlife through naturalistic, understated clips that would feel at home in a David Attenborough documentary.

Lyrebirds singing kookaburra calls, dancing and putting on their courtship displays have garnered him millions of views,1.4 million followers on Instagram and even a nomination at the 2025 Australian TikTok Awards.

Hungry gang-gang cockatoos, slovenly echidnas and lustrous dragonflies also feature in his videos.

But the songbirds remain the fan favourite.

"I have a big soft spot for lyrebirds," he told AAP.

"I've spent thousands of hours with these birds now and they constantly surprise me with new behaviours.

"They put on the most incredible performances, which makes them the perfect subject for a TikTok video."

Unlike other online creators, JeremyFilmsThings is not trying to become a household name.

His most popular videos don't include his face or voice, and he continues to refer to himself using only his first name to try to maintain his privacy.

It is the natural world that means everything to Jeremy.

A former videographer for the music industry who volunteers for a lyrebird study group, Jeremy spends 30 to 50 hours a week in the wild, usually filming animals around the Dandenong Ranges or Gippsland areas.

While his videos were born from filming birds and insects in his backyard, they have become rooted in a need to display Australia's special but struggling biodiversity.

Feral cats, foxes and deer have overrun the forest where he works, and he often encounters wombats with mange, a sometimes-fatal skin disease caused by mites believed to have arrived on the backs of European animals.

Meanwhile, climate change and land clearing have been constant concerns since Jeremy began shooting the natural world five years ago

"We have a huge extinction problem - since colonisation, we've had more mammal extinctions than anywhere else in the world," he says.

"The more that people appreciate our wildlife, the more likely they are to protect what we have."

He wants Australia to prioritise native wildlife, implement stronger protections for forests and empower communities to take action through projects like wildlife corridors.

"The combination of land clearing and climate-driven disasters could be a death sentence for so many vulnerable species," he says.

Jeremy has been nominated for High Quality Content Creator of the Year at the 2025 TikTok Awards, which will take place on Wednesday in Sydney. 

Australian Associated Press