The bellbird (Procnias albus), It is a passerine bird, of the Cotingidae family.
Where does the bellbird live?
It is considered native to northern South America. Although, it is found mostly in the Guiana Shield, in Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname and in the extreme north of Brazil, in the Amazon.
It generally lives in areas below 1,250 meters above sea level. It is typical of the Guiana Tepuis region and the Brazilian high forest.
Hector Bottai / CC BY-SA
Characteristics of the white bellbird
The male’s plumage is completely white.
A long, thin, fleshy appendage, like a worm, hanging from its beak is very noticeable.
Its most consequent characteristic is that it emits a cry that constitutes the “highest documented amplitude vocalization for any bird, with maximum sound pressure levels”,
According to Jeff Podos and Mario Cohn-Haft.
These researchers recorded their songs, which reach up to 125 decibels, much higher than the screaming gamekeeper or screaming piha of Australia, considered the loudest bird in the world until 2019.
Behavior and feeding
It feeds mainly on various fruits of the forest.
It is difficult to observe the white bellbird because it generally lives in the highest canopies of the forest.
There are two subspecies of the bird: One is P. albus albus, in the Sierra de Lerma, in the Canaima National Park, in the east and extreme south of Venezuela, in the state of Bolívar, and in the Guianas and north of Brazil.
The other, P. albus wallacei, lives in the Sierra de Carajás, in the southeast of the Brazilian state of Pará.
Dr. Rafael Cartay is a Venezuelan economist, historian, and writer best known for his extensive work in gastronomy, and has received the National Nutrition Award, Gourmand World Cookbook Award, Best Kitchen Dictionary, and The Great Gold Fork. He began his research on the Amazon in 2014 and lived in Iquitos during 2015, where he wrote The Peruvian Amazon Table (2016), the Dictionary of Food and Cuisine of the Amazon Basin (2020), and the online portal delAmazonas.com, of which he is co-founder and main writer. Books by Rafael Cartay can be found on Amazon.com
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