The world’s loudest bird screams at 130 decibels — louder than a rock concert

UMass Amherst ecologists João Menezes and Jeff Podos measured the calls of 123 bird species — the largest volume dataset ever — and found the snow-white male bare-throated bellbird can blast out a metallic mating call topping 130 decibels, louder than a jackhammer. Bigger bodies and wider beaks help, the study in Evolution (Sept. 29) reports — but why evolution cranked the volume up at all remains a puzzle.