Birds
White Bellbird
Procnias albus · also called white bellbird
The white bellbird holds a world record: the male makes the loudest call ever measured in any bird, a clanging blast recorded at around 125 decibels — as loud as standing next to a jackhammer. And he saves his loudest, shortest calls for the moment a female lands beside him, when he turns and fires the sound straight at her face.
Overview
White bellbirds live in the tepui highlands and mountains of northern South America, in Venezuela, Guyana, northern Brazil, and Suriname. They are about 27–28 cm long. The male is pure white with a single dark, worm-like wattle hanging from the bill; the female is olive-green and streaked. The birds eat fruit, swallowed whole, and disperse the seeds of many forest trees.
The loudest bird
A 2019 study measured the male’s display call at about 125 decibels, beating the previous record holder, the screaming piha, by roughly nine decibels. The males trade volume against duration — their loudest calls are also their briefest.
A call for one listener
The very loudest call type is given only when a female is on the display perch, and the male swivels to deliver it directly at her head, apparently as the climax of courtship. Females visit several males, assess them, and choose; the male does nothing to raise the young.
Status
The white bellbird is Vulnerable and declining, with a restricted highland range, trapping for the cage-bird trade, and habitat loss all working against it.
White Bellbird: common questions
How loud is the white bellbird, really?
A 2019 study that recorded males at close range measured peak sound pressure levels of around 125 decibels. For comparison, that is roughly the level of a loud rock concert, a chainsaw at close range, or a jackhammer, and it is above the threshold at which sustained human exposure causes hearing damage. It beat the previous record holder among birds, the screaming piha, which shares the same forests, by about nine decibels, and because decibels are a logarithmic scale that difference represents a large increase in actual sound energy.
Why does the male call so loudly at a female that is right next to him?
It seems counterintuitive, but the behaviour is consistent. A male only produces his single loudest call type when a female has landed on his display perch, and he then turns to point the sound straight at her from very close range. Researchers think this is the final, high-stakes stage of courtship, in which the male shows off the full power of his voice as a signal of quality, and the female uses that close-range demonstration to make her final decision. It may be that the volume itself, experienced at point-blank range, is the message.
What is the wattle on the male's face?
It is a single, long, dark, fleshy appendage that grows from the base of the upper bill and hangs down across the bird's face, often flopping to one side. It is soft and can be inflated slightly. Male bellbirds of other species have three wattles or a cluster of them; the white bellbird has just one. Its precise function is not fully understood, but it clearly forms part of the visual side of the male's display, moving and swelling as he calls, and it may signal age or condition to watching females.
Is the white bellbird endangered?
It is listed as Vulnerable, meaning it is considered at risk though not yet in the highest-danger categories. The species occupies a fairly limited area in the highlands of northern South America, which makes it inherently more exposed than a widespread bird. Within that range it is caught for the cage-bird trade in some countries, prized for the male's striking appearance and voice, and it also loses habitat to forest clearance and mining. Its dependence on intact montane forest for both fruit and display sites means it does not adapt well to disturbed land.