Two birds in Brazil are, scientifically speaking, loud as heck, So loud that these relatively small birds rival the earsplitting obnoxiousness of machinery like jackhammers and chainsaws. They’re even louder than much larger animals, like elephants.
According to a study published in Evolution, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst hiked into the Brazilian wilderness armed with laser rangefinders and portable sound level meters to measure the song volume of 123 different species. While hummingbirds let out a gentle 50 to 64 decibels, about on par with a normal conversation, the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema seemed to be trying to tear a hole in the universe with their birdsong.
It’s especially impressive considering that, for instance, the bare-throated bellbird is about the size of a common dove; both species screeched out vocalizations that hit around 122 to 122 decibels, putting these little birds alongside classically loud construction equipment, and easily making them louder than wolves, lions, bison, and elephants.
These Two Birds Reach Around 122 Decibels. Imagine That Outside Your Window.
Speaking to The New York Times, study co-author Dr. Jeff Podos compared birds that can really belt out sounds to having internal tubing that functions a bit like a brass musical instrument: “It’s like a tube which serves the same function that a tube on a musical instrument does, like a trombone or a trumpet…It helps concentrate the energy into a narrow range of frequencies, so it’s easier to hit louder peaks.”
Birds project air using a syrinx, the trumpet/trombone-like organ mentioned above. It focuses audio frequencies. Scientists found that birds with wider beaks project sound like the bell end of a brass instrument, while their large throat muscles generate huge gushes of internal air pressure that crank up the volume.
The Blue Jays and mockingbirds screeching just outside your window every morning may be the all-natural alarm clock that haunts your mornings, but be thankful that you don’t live anywhere near Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, where the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema seem to be locked in an eternal contest to see who could be the most obnoxious.
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