Scientists think that the male White Bellbird (Procnias albus) has the loudest call of any bird species recorded to date. The bird produces its chainsaw-like calls, recording levels louder than a pneumatic drill. It’s part of the male bird’s mating ritual. The white bellbird is perhaps closely related to the genus, Three-wattled Bellbird (Procnias tricarunculatus).
A medium-sized bird was recorded bellowing at levels as high as 125 decibels among all bird species in the world. Previously, the record was held by the screaming “Piha” (Lipaugus vociferans) passerine bird, with 116 dB. Therefore, the white bellbird has 9 decibels higher than the loudest recorded call.
The Massachusetts Amherst Team and Brazil’s National Institute of Amazon Research in the Rainforest published the journal. Some interesting facts that may surprise you are a jet engine taking off at 150 dB, and the pop of a balloon at 157 dB in a short duration.
They believed that males seemed to save their loudest call for when a female was perched as they sang, close to within four meters. While watching white bellbirds, we were fortunate enough to see females join males on their display perches. The scientists hear the dramatic, almost theatrical swivel call and feel, the louder the call, the shorter it lasts. But if sexual selection keeps pushing the call to be louder and louder, then it’s going to become shorter and shorter.
The white bellbird is found in the dense forests of Guiana Shield. There are also a few numbers found in Venezuela and Brazil’s state of Pará. The female bird is olive with yellowish streaks; however, the male is completely white, and has black wattle adorned with white “rosettes”, which hang lightly over the bill when the bird is not displaying.
The Amazonian white bellbird sings ear-splittingly loud. The scientists measured both birds’ volumes in the Amazon mountains and found pigeon-sized male white bellbird’s louder than “Piha,” as loud as a very noisy rock concert. The female bellbird could be sitting near a loud male to assess it up close. But why she risks the hearing system by doing so is uncertain. Furthermore, it is amazing, how a half-pound bird produces such a loud call?
This is also a mystery for researchers now, as they are in the early stages of understanding biodiversity. They also observed that the white bellbirds, on average, weighed a quarter of a kilogram (just over half a pound), were unusually thick, and developed abdominal muscles and ribs.
It is unclear, how a little bird manages to get so loud. The bird habitually does some type of migration, at least long-distance wandering and is scattered in central Amazonia and Trinidad. Interestingly, animals usually reserve loud calls for long-distance communication, and few species are famous for vocalizing more softly when receivers are close by.
Maybe these deafening calls should come as no surprise—the bellbirds wouldn’t be the only species to go to extremes to find love. Because the birds of paradise display their dance and moves, pufferfish draw shapes in the sand.
Also Read: The Hoopoes is Distinctive Crown Feathers Bird
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