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acoustics

How Loud Is the White Bellbird? The Bird Behind the Nearly 130-Decibel Claim

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The male white bellbird produces one of the loudest bird calls measured: Guinness World Records lists its courtship call at 125.4 dB(A), while a peer-reviewed comparison gives it a peak source level of 125 dB referenced to 1 m. Those are different measurement formats, not interchangeable readings—and the available sources do not establish that the call is precisely as loud as a jackhammer.

Which bird is behind the nearly 130-decibel claim?

It is the male white bellbird (Procnias albus). Guinness World Records lists a 125.4 dB(A) courtship call recorded in Brazil on 21 October 2019. The entry says researchers used a calibrated sound-level meter that sampled amplitude 50 times per second, a method suited to rapidly changing sound levels. Guinness World Records’ listing is the record entry, rather than the original scientific paper.

A peer-reviewed 2021 review gives a related but differently specified figure: 125 dB peak source level, referenced to 20 μPa at 1 m. That same comparison lists the screaming piha at 116 dB peak on the same reference basis. Elemans and colleagues’ review explains that published animal sound levels can be difficult to compare because measurement methods and metrics vary; its compiled maximal values are indicative within roughly 2–3 dB.

The Guinness figure is A-weighted, while the review’s table reports peak source level at a stated reference distance. Neither number should be treated as a direct reading at a female bird’s ear or as an unqualified measure of how loud a person would perceive the call.

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Is the white bellbird louder than the screaming piha?

In the 2019 field study, white bellbirds exceeded screaming pihas by more than 9 dB. The authors describe that difference as roughly triple the sound pressure. The 2021 review summarizes the comparison as 125 dB peak at 1 m for the white bellbird and 116 dB peak at 1 m for the piha. The piha had been described as producing the loudest songs documented among passerine birds; the study found the bellbird louder still. The study by Jeffrey Podos and Mario Cohn-Haft reports the comparison and its courtship setting.

Decibels are logarithmic, so a difference of 9 dB is not a simple nine-percent increase. But peak sound pressure, A-weighted level and perceived loudness are distinct concepts. A figure needs its metric, reference distance and measurement context to be meaningful.

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Why does the bellbird sing so loudly at a female?

The calls are part of courtship. During field observations in montane rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon, males used their louder song type when a female was at the display perch and turned toward her while singing. The researchers reported more than 154 white bellbird songs in the account published by PBS NOVA; they fell into two categories, including a loud type and a still louder type. PBS NOVA’s report describes the display and attributes observations to the researchers.

The 2019 study’s authors said they knew of no other species directing vocal signals of such high amplitude at receivers in such close proximity. That makes the bellbird’s courtship call striking not merely for its level, but for its direction toward a nearby potential mate.

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Does the bird pay a cost for singing at this level?

The louder the bellbird’s song, the shorter it tended to be. The study found a trade-off between maximum sound pressure and song duration, evidence that the bird cannot simply increase loudness without constraint.

The researchers raised the possibility that females could face a hearing risk when exposed at close range. They did not establish that hearing damage occurs, nor determine whether or how either bird avoids it. Whether females tolerate the display despite a risk, or whether the sound affects their hearing at all, remains unresolved.

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Is the call really as loud as a jackhammer?

The comparison is catchy, but the sources cited here do not provide a verified jackhammer measurement using the same metric and reference distance. Without matching measurement conditions, placing a jackhammer figure beside the bird’s peak source level would imply a precision the evidence does not support. The safe takeaway is the measured one: the white bellbird’s courtship call is about 125 dB in the documented formats, and it ranks above the screaming piha in the cited comparison.

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