Overview
- The peer-reviewed study published Tuesday in Evolution reports that the bare-throated bellbird and the red-legged seriema both produce calls above 120 decibels using field-standardized measures.
- Researchers recorded 123 species in Massachusetts and Brazil and provided first-ever amplitude data for 113 of them by pairing portable sound meters with laser rangefinders to correct for distance.
- Measured values include a bare-throated bellbird average of 122.4 dB over 20 milliseconds at 1 meter and an individual bare-throated bellbird peak near 131 dB, while the red-legged seriema averages near 121 dB on the same metric.
- Analysis links louder calls to larger body size and wider beak openings, which may allow greater internal air pressure and sound radiation, but ecological predictors like habitat or mating system were not consistently supported.
- The team says the label 'loudest bird' depends on which metric is used—peak versus short-time averages or species averages—and the study expands a limited dataset while calling for broader field work to explain the evolutionary drivers.