Research published this week in Evolution gives more than 100 bird species baseline volume measurements and points to the bare-throated bellbird as a contender for the loudest bird known to science. Its call, like the white bellbird’s, can reach decibel levels comparable to a chainsaw or jackhammer. The red-legged seriema matches that intensity.
What the Measurements Say
The bare-throated bellbird is a contender, not the undisputed loudest bird. That distinction matters. The research gives baseline measurements for more than 100 species, but the report names no single winner and supplies no specific decibel figure for the bellbird. Instead, it compares the calls with familiar power tools, giving readers a sense of their volume without the underlying numbers.
The white bellbird is the bare-throated bellbird’s cousin, and its calls can reach comparable decibel levels. The red-legged seriema, another South American species, matches their audible intensity. Those are the three birds the report singles out. The findings don’t show that one consistently outcalls the others: the bare-throated bellbird is a contender, while the other two are described in relation to the same striking intensity.
The baseline measurements offer a way to compare calls across a larger group of species. The article reports results for more than 100 birds, but it doesn’t give the full set, explain how researchers measured the calls, or provide exact decibel readings for the three species. Without those details, the power-tool comparison grabs attention, while the finding itself remains a set of baseline measurements and a contender for a scientific distinction.
Who Gets Heard
The report focuses on sound: how loud certain birds’ calls can be, according to research published in Evolution. Chainsaws and jackhammers make the scale vivid, but the report doesn’t describe a contest or say the researchers declared a definitive champion. The bare-throated bellbird’s status remains qualified.
Meghan Bartels wrote the article, which includes a video of a male bare-throated bellbird singing in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. The video gives readers a view of the bird and its call, but it doesn’t show that the video supplied the volume measurements. The report also provides no further detail about the recording or where researchers took their measurements.
There’s no government order, corporate decision, election, legislative remedy, or community response in the reported findings. The account mentions no grassroots organizing or mutual aid, either. The power here isn’t an institution directing people’s lives; it’s the scale of a sound, measured and compared by researchers. The report’s concrete claim is narrower than its dramatic comparisons: researchers gave more than 100 species baseline volume measurements, and the bare-throated bellbird emerged as a contender for the loudest bird known to science.