Birds produce a wide variety of vocalizations and songs, each with its own unique characteristics. When trying to identify a bird by sound alone, paying attention to the tone, pitch, rhythm, and quality of notes is key. While there are many birds with distinctive voices, a few really stand out for their unusual and memorable songs.
The Lyrebird
One of the most remarkable mimics in the avian world is the Superb Lyrebird, a ground-dwelling songbird native to Australia. The male lyrebird has a repertoire of over 20 different calls, which he mixes and matches to form elaborate songs. Lyrebirds are able to replicate almost any sound with great accuracy, including other bird species, dingoes, koalas, chainsaws, car alarms, and even human speech. David Attenborough’s BBC documentary series Life of Birds featured a lyrebird mimicking construction sounds and a camera shutter.
While the lyrebird’s mimicry skills are impressive, his own natural song is also unique and complex. The song consists of a mixture of tuneful whistle-like notes, liquid gurgling sounds, pops, clicks, and whines. The male can sing for hours on end while courting females from an open mound or stage. The Superb Lyrebird has a highly developed voice box or syrinx allowing it to produce two different sounds simultaneously.
The Sunda Whistling Thrush
Another bird renowned for its distinct vocalizations is the Sunda Whistling Thrush found in Southeast Asia. As the name suggests, this thrush fills the forest with its loud, whistling song. Its most common call is a clear whistle wheeo, teeo, teeo, teeo followed by a sharp trill. The Song Thrush and White’s Thrush are closely related species with similar whistled songs.
The Sunda Whistling Thrush utters beautiful cascades of notes that carry far through its mountainous tropical habitat. Both males and females sing, but males have a louder, more melodious voice. The whistling song has an eerie, haunting tone that echoes through the forest. At dawn, the thrush starts with simple clear whistles that grow into complex melodious phrases.
The White Bellbird
Holding the record for the loudest bird call ever documented is the White Bellbird of the Amazon. Reaching 125 decibels, these birds can be heard 3 kilometers away. In comparison, a typical car horn is 110 decibels. The mating call consists of shrieks and pops so deafening it can physically sting human ears.
Scientists recorded the extremely loud vocalizations in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest using specialized high-quality microphones. Only the males sing, sitting upright on bare branches before giving explosive bellows. Each call only lasts about a half a second. The bellow begins with a piercing metallic note dropping down to become guttural and growling. Why the White Bellbird produces such loud calls remains an interesting mystery since they do not seem to communicate over huge distances like some other loud bird species.
The Great Potoo
One of the most bizarre calls in the bird world comes from the Great Potoo, a nocturnal species found in Central and South America. Potoo calls have been likened to moans, howls, and haunting ghostly cries. Some of their many vocalizations include deep, booming ooOO-oo-oo-oo notes, weird growling grunts, and explosive cries. The sounds often build into a nightmarish crescendo.
Capability to make such weird sounds comes from highly adapted throat and mouth anatomy. Potoos have very wide gapes and throats allowing them to emit resonant, far-reaching notes. The Great Potoo’s songs take on an eerie, otherworldly feel in the dark of night. While painful to human ears, the potoo’s chilling vocalizations are supposed to attract mates.
The Yellow-rumped Cacique
Caciques are New World blackbirds found in Mexico and Central and South America. The genus includes some species with beautiful, rich voices like the Yellow-rumped Cacique. Living in flocks, these chatty birds fill the air with noisy chattering. One of their more musical calls is a slurred, bubbly song often represented as “gowrrl-ack-ack-ack.” Some compare it to gurgling water or a crashing stream.
Male and female caciques both sing, perching high in trees above the rainforest canopy. But males perform more elaborate songs during courtship rituals while fluffing their feathers. Cacique flocks make frequent excitement calls and loud snarling alarm calls to threaten predators. With a flexible voice box, they blend whistles, trills, snorts, wheezes and chuckles together in a flowing stream.
Wilson’s Bird of Paradise
Among birds of paradise, male Wilson’s Bird of Paradise makes some of the most unusual sounds. To attract females, they make loud snapping and popping noises produced by specialized plumes on their wings. When courting, the male turns his back, lowers his head, erects his cape, then forcefully snaps his wings 20 to 40 times. The sound carries surprisingly far through the dense forest.
In addition to the snaps, males make high-pitched gurgling sounds interspersed withweets. Researchers found Wilson’s Bird of Paradise has a uniquely modified windpipe allowing it to make loud vocalizations and bizarre mechanical sounds. The birds incorporate both vocalizations and mechanical sounds into elaborate courtship displays like dancing and aerial acrobatics.
The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock
Another South American species renowned for peculiar calls and mating rituals is the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. Courting males nod, hop, and make buzzing wing-snapping sounds from forest display arenas or “leks.” Their nasal, scratchy shrieks echo through the cloud forest accompanied by bill-snapping. The calls are described as sounding like squeaky clarinets, pumps, or heavy machinery.
Females are attracted to the communal display sites by the males’ raucous din and bright orange-red plumage. In a study, females showed more interest in males that performed more bill-snapping sounds. The cock-of-the-rock’s unusual vocalizations and elaborate courtship make them a highlight for many birdwatchers exploring the Andean cloud forests.
The Eurasian Curlew
Northern Europe’s largest shorebird, the Eurasian Curlew, makes a haunting bubbling cry that carries impressively far across its open habitats. Its most common call is a loud, far-reaching cur-LEE or cur-LOO. The ethereal, mournful quality of the curlew’s voice inspired old legends warning it foretold storms, disaster, or death.
Curlews nest on the ground in large flocks, using their calls to communicate over long distances. The curlew’s evocative voice has inspired poems, literature, and music including Handel’s Suite for Keyboard based on the curlew’s call. Unfortunately, due to habitat loss and other threats, the Eurasian Curlew is now considered near-threatened after centuries of cultural inspiration.
Jerdon’s Babbler
Thought extinct for over 70 years, Jerdon’s Babbler was recently rediscovered in Myanmar by researchers following up on reports from locals of a strange bird call. This small brown babbler disappeared after the last one was collected in 1941. Locals described hearing bizarre but beautiful three-part calls in the early mornings.
In 2014, ornithologists followed up on these reports and identified the source as Jerdon’s Babbler. Its call starts with a couple of high-pitched whistles followed by a string of 8 to 10 three-part notes described as “a-tiddle-it, a-tiddle-it.” One researcher recalled locals’ descriptions of the mysterious call as “like a farmer encouraging a buffalo.” Jerdon’s Babbler’s rediscovery emphasizes the importance of local ecological knowledge.
The Campo Flicker
A rare South American woodpecker called the Campo Flicker is best known for its loud calls that carry over long distances. Both males and females make piercing territorial calls that can be heard up to a half mile away across the dry, open grasslands they inhabit. The call is a loud, ringing kleeer that rises and falls in pitch.
When calling aggressively or defending territories, the Campo Flicker makes a rattling call that accelerates into a long, ringing trill. The species inhabits remote grasslands and is endangered by habitat loss. The bird’s far-reaching voice once inspired indigenous names like terutero gigante meaning “giant rattle” in South America.
The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, a North American woodpecker, also has a very distinctive call often compared to a cat’s meow. Both males and females make their mewing call throughout the year. Sapsuckers are very vocal birds, making harsh mewing or squealing calls along with drumrolls and other sounds.
Sapsuckers communicate with mates, defend territories, and advertise the existence of sap wells using their mewing calls. Since they nest in cavities, vocalizations help these birds find and identify their mates. The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker’s cat-like mews make them easy to identify by ear alone.
The Bristle-Thighed Curlew
Related to the Eurasian Curlew, the Bristle-Thighed Curlew breeds in Alaska and migrates all the way to the South Pacific in winter. Its call is a far-carrying, whistled curlee-curlee-curlee much higher pitched than its cousin’s call. During courtship, pairs call back-and-forth while circles high over their tundra nesting habitat.
The species received its name from the small stiff feathers or “bristles” projecting from the base of their legs. Populations of Bristle-Thighed Curlews have declined significantly in recent decades. Conservationists monitor the shorebirds in hopes efforts can restore their numbers so their distinctive voices continue ringing out.
The Marbled Murrelet
An unusual seabird of the Pacific Northwest, the Marbled Murrelet spends most of its life offshore but flies inland to nest in coastal old-growth forests. Their calls at sea sound like short, rolling knocking noises or the faint yelping of a dog. When flying to nest sites or circling overhead, Marbled Murrelets make distinctive “keer” calls.
The “keer” calls are thought to maintain connections between mates and help these secretive birds navigate the forest. High-pitched and squeaky, the call carries surprisingly far and probably indicates nest site locations or the presence of predators. Many forest bird surveys rely on identifying the murrelet’s distinctive “keer” to confirm their presence.
The Blue-Footed Booby
Known for their bright blue feet and comical displays, Blue-footed Boobies are seabirds found in tropical and subtropical waters along both coasts of the Americas. These large, clumsy fliers make barking, goose-like honking sounds when greeting mates or defending nest sites. Mated pairs perform a ritual “sky-pointing” display, calling back-and-forth while pointing their bills and feet towards the sky.
Boobies utter a variety of grunts, groans, and whistles. A common call is a low grunt leading into a longer, higher-pitched second note. The Blue-footed Booby’s funny, awkward vocalizations match their clumsy, lumbering nature on land contrasted with skillful agility in the air.
The Brown Thrasher
A talented songster from North America’s woodlands, the Brown Thrasher has an exceptionally large repertoire with over 1,000 different song types. Their songs are melodious with phrases often repeated twice. But the most unique vocalization is a special clicking call given with the wings during territorial displays.
Perched on a prominent spot, the thrasher will spread and slightly raise its wings while making two sharp clicking sounds. Males give the visual and auditory display when defending nest sites or displaying for females. The wing-clicking call is thought to emphasize aggressive intent. Beyond this special call, thrashers captivate us with their musical mimicking blends of other birds’ songs.
Conclusion
This selection illustrates the incredible diversity and uniqueness of bird vocalizations. From the bizarre bellows of the White Bellbird to the eerie wails of the Great Potoo, birds produce a fascinating array of sounds. The lyrebird stands outs as a superb mimic while other species like the Sunda Whistling Thrush have evolved to project their calls over long distances.
Many birds use vocalizations for attracting mates with elaborate courtship rituals or defending territories from rivals. Researchers continue discovering birds with weird and wonderful voices like the rediscovered Jerdon’s Babbler. As exemplified by these examples, no two bird songs or calls are exactly alike. Listening carefully will reveal rich vocal diversity reflecting each species’ amazing adaptations.
