White Bellbird
Procnias albus
Medium-sized bird; heard far more than seen. All-white male is unmistakable; mostly green female is best identified by chunky proportions and long, sloping head profile. Found in tall forest, principally at higher elevations; common in the tepui region. Feeds at fruiting trees but is more often seen from high vantage points or flying across gaps. Males sing from bare snags above the canopy and are often not visible from below. Song is only vaguely bell-like, amazingly loud and reverberating; younger males may give a cracked or truncated version.
Identification
The white bellbird grows to a length of about 28 cm (11 in). The male is pure white with a black bill that has a fleshy black wattle, sparsely feathered with white feathers, dangling from its top and hanging down the side, usually the right side; the female is an overall olive colour, with olive streaks on the yellowish underparts, and resembles other bellbirds. The male is unlikely to be mistaken for anything else, but the female resembles the bearded bellbird (Procnias averano); that bird has a dusky olive crown and black streaking on the throat.<p>According to a study published in 2019, the white bellbird produces the loudest call ever recorded in a bird, reaching 125 dB(A) (at equivalent 1m distance). The record was previously held by the screaming piha, which was recorded at 116 dB.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Procnias albus
- Authority
- (Hermann, 1783)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cotingidae
- Genus
- Procnias
Range and habitat
The range of the white bellbird includes parts of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. It occurs in moist tropical or subtropical forests.
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Rufous-naped Tit
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Small, dark, crested tit of montane and hilly coniferous forests. Lack of white on the wings (except for large cheek patch) and erect crest separate it from Coal Tit. The namesake rufous nape patch is small and fairly difficult to see. Rufous-vented Tit is extremely similar in appearance, and the two species overlap in the central and western Himalayas, but note present species’ much more extensive black breast. An occasional member of mixed-species flocks in the winter. Calls variable, include a cheery “pi-chew, pi-chew”, bright “chewee, chewee”, and high-pitched, squeaky “cheee”s and “seee”s. Song typically consists of several high-pitched whistles, followed by buzzes, trills, or descending notes.
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