The Loudest Bird in the World
In the mountains of the northern Amazon, a small white bird calls straight into the face of the female it's courting, louder than a rock concert.
What was reported
The white bellbird is a pigeon-sized bird of the forests of northern South America, with a long fleshy wattle hanging from its beak. In 2019, researchers recording in the hills of Roraima, Brazil, measured its call at about 125 decibels, the loudest bird call ever recorded.
Strangely, the males seem to save their loudest calls for when a female is right beside them, swinging round to blast it directly at her.
Explanations offered
Its call is so loud because of its unusually thick belly muscles and ribs. Why a male would shout at a female so close is unclear; perhaps the females are testing which males can call loudest, risking their hearing to choose.
- When
- Measured in 2019
- Where
- Serra do Apiaú, Roraima, Brazil
- Witnesses
- Ornithologists in the Amazon
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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