The Loudest Creatures on Earth

The blue whale holds the title for the loudest creature known, with volumes reaching up to 118 decibels. Unlike other whales that produce complex 'songs,' the blue whale emits low-frequency calls – below the threshold of human hearing – detectable from over 500 miles away. Calculations from the 1970s by scientists Roger Payne and Douglas Webb suggested that blue whale calls could propagate across the ocean.

Blue whales 'sing' louder than jet engines (at 140 decibels). The loudest human scream reaches just over 70 decibels. While the threshold for sound-induced ear pain in humans ranges from 120 – 130 decibels. In recent years, researchers have noted a decline in the frequency of blue whale calls.

These giants are known as the wandering minstrels of the oceans. Blue whales can produce infrasonic sounds at 14 Hz, and they also emit the loudest sound in the world, surpassing even the roar of a jet engine at 200 decibels. Compared to the human scream at 70 decibels, sounds exceeding 120 decibels pose a risk to human hearing.

The purpose of these calls remains unclear. Richardson et al. (1995) suggested several possible reasons:

• Maintaining distance between individuals
• Species and individual recognition
• Information transmission (feeding, alarm, courtship)
• Maintaining social organization (such as calls between males and females)
• Marking the location of food sources

When oilbirds return to their roosts to sleep, the cacophony of this once-in-a-lifetime avian spectacle may deafen you. Oilbirds employ echolocation to navigate through completely dark caves. Unlike the calls of bats, however, the honking sounds of oilbirds fall within the human audible range. Each bird can produce honks of up to 100 decibels at close range, and when thousands of oilbirds converge, the resulting noise reaches staggering levels.

Oilbirds seem to use echolocation only when in the home caves and not during nocturnal foraging. This may be because their sensitivity is not high. Scientific experiments have shown that oilbirds will collide head-on with plastic discs 10 centimeters wide but can avoid discs 20 centimeters wide and larger.

They feed at night, feasting on the fruits of oil palm and tropical laurel trees, and are the only fruit-eating birds in the world that are active at night. They forage at night, navigating by echolocation like bats, but with a high-pitched sound around 2 kHz that humans can hear. Alexander von Humboldt discovered this species when he climbed the Teide volcano and arrived in Cumaná, Venezuela, on July 16. von Humboldt visited a mission in Caripe and discovered the oilbird.

The howler monkey holds the title for the loudest land animal. Large populations of these primates inhabit the South American rainforests. Some liken their calls more to roars, audible from up to 3 miles away. The howler monkey's vocalizations measure from 5 meters up to 88 decibels, nearly equivalent to the sound of a subway train running on tracks (95 decibels). It ranks second only to the blue whale in the volume of sound it generates.

Research has revealed that howler monkeys 'howl' using a U-shaped hyoid bone in their throats. This bone doesn't actually articulate with any other bones, so it just hangs there. The enlarged bone forms a throat pouch that resonates the howl before it bursts out of the animal's mouth.

Howler monkeys vocalize for various purposes, to communicate location, defend territory, or protect their group, but humans are still deciphering their 'vocabulary.'

Adult male monkeys are always affectionate towards young monkeys in the troop, even if they're not their offspring. After birth, each monkey typically has a male monkey responsible for caregiving. When sensing danger, a young monkey will run to the designated caregiver for protection and reassurance. The males don't necessarily have to be the fathers; they take on the role of caring for the little ones as babysitters.

The tiny Mediterranean pistol shrimp doesn't make sound through its mouth or body. It employs its giant claws to shoot out jets of water with such force that it creates air bubbles. When these bubbles burst, they produce a shockwave measured at over 200 decibels.

Surprisingly, this shockwave can kill other shrimp up to 2 meters away, while also potentially generating a bright, sun-like hot spot. The human tolerance threshold - where pure sound causes discomfort in most people's ears - is 120 decibels. Human eardrums would rupture at 160 decibels, a level the pistol shrimp can reach.

The pistol shrimp doesn't sing, chirp, shout, or whistle but simply creates the single loudest sound ever produced by a living creature. The shrimp's snapping noise is enough to 'cloak' submarines from sonar detection systems.

The pistol shrimp stuns prey by rapidly closing its specialized claws to shoot out water jets at speeds of 100 km/h, creating a low-pressure air bubble behind. The bursting air bubble creates a mini explosion with a volume of 200 decibels, stunning and killing its prey.

The pistol shrimp is aiding scientists in the UK in researching clean, abundant, and safe energy sources to provide a powerful boost to the fight against climate change. Nuclear power requires a high-speed projectile to create a shockwave and collapse a plasma-containing chamber, and the pistol shrimp is the only creature on Earth naturally equipped with such power.

Only the males of the coqui frog species are known to sing, and their recorded calls reach up to 100 decibels (measured from 1 meter), earning them the title of the loudest amphibian symphony king known. The nocturnal serenade of these frogs serves two purposes: to declare territory to other males and to attract females.

In their native habitat in Puerto Rico, coqui frogs are considered part of the island's natural heritage. However, in Hawaii, residents often lose sleep due to the cacophony created by congregating coqui frogs, akin to running a lawn mower all night, according to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (USA).

Most of them are water-associated species, with the majority laying eggs in water and undergoing tadpole stages. Additionally, some species live on trees, and a few rare species can live in brackish water. Many species actually live on the ground and in water, with green-colored ones adapting to arboreal habitats while those living on land and in water blend with their environment. They feed on insects and other invertebrates. Coqui frogs have jaw teeth and toe pads with claws.

Although not the loudest creature in nature in terms of pure decibels, the Micronecta scholtzi water bug actually produces the loudest sounds relative to its body size, according to a recent scientific publication in the journal PloS ONE.

Experts and evolutionary biologists in Scotland and France recorded the 'singing' of the water bug, which reaches intensities of up to 105 decibels, equivalent to the sound of a hammer hitting a nail at arm's length. While the sound diminishes significantly when it reaches the surface from underwater, the bug's 'song' is still loud enough for someone standing by the pond to hear.

Significantly, the water bug creates noise by rubbing its 'precious' against its abdomen, a process similar to a cricket 'singing.' Creating noise with external genitalia is relatively rare in the animal kingdom, but animals have evolved hundreds of different ways to amplify their 'songs.'

Micronecta scholtzi is a water bug or water boatman belonging to the family Corixidae, commonly found in freshwater environments and prevalent throughout Europe. This insect, about 2cm in size, swims upside down using its two long legs acting like oars, creating sound by rubbing its genitalia against its abdomen. Micronecta Scholtzi water bugs have bodies only 2mm long. These bugs live in freshwater environments and swim upside down using two long legs that act like oars.

The Gryllotalpa vinae mole cricket is the loudest insect. This cricket species utilizes its specially adapted front legs to dig tunnel-shaped burrows. Standing inside its excavated burrow, the cricket can chirp loudly enough for someone standing 600 meters away to hear.

An audio recorder placed 1 meter from the entrance of the mole cricket's burrow captured sounds reaching up to 92 decibels, louder than a lawnmower. In fact, G. vinae 'cheats' by using its burrow to amplify sound escaping from its body, converting 30% of its energy into amplified sound.

As a stout-bodied insect, the mole cricket has a head encased in a tough shell to protect itself and long, sturdy antennae, about 3–5 cm in length, with eyes resembling two shovels facilitating burrowing and swimming. Mole crickets can also fly - an adult can fly up to 8 km during mating season. During winter, they hibernate. Mole crickets are omnivorous, consuming larvae, worms, plant roots, and grass. Predators include birds, mice, skunks, armadillos, American badgers, foxes, chickens, and humans.

Mole crickets forage at night and spend most of their time underground in an extensive burrow system, making them rarely seen. They inhabit fields and grasslands across continents except Antarctica. In some East Asian countries, mole crickets are occasionally used as food.

The Kakapo, also known as the owl parrot, is the loudest bird. The mating call of this native New Zealand species can reach up to 132 decibels. Active at night, the Kakapo is the heaviest parrot in the world, weighing 4.85 pounds (2.2 kg) for males, and it is also the longest-living bird known, with a lifespan of up to 90 years.

With its characteristic green and yellow-brown plumage, the Kakapo parrot is globally renowned as the longest-living and heaviest parrot species. This bird species was once on the brink of extinction before successfully being restored, with the population increasing from 50 individuals in the 1990s to 213 individuals today.

The Kakapo parrot, also known as the 'mighty moss chicken,' once roamed throughout New Zealand's mainland, but today it only inhabits predator-free islands. Male Kakapos often emit loud sounds to attract females, according to Laura Keown, spokesperson for the 'Bird of the Year' competition.

What sets this parrot breed apart from any other is its inability to fly, likely due to its large size rendering its wings unable to bear the load. Hence, they are also dubbed as 'flightless parrots.' As a nocturnal species, they forage and seek mates at night, earning them another nickname, the owl parrot, due to their nocturnal habits often likened to those of owls.

The large bulldog bat, originating from the Caribbean, utilizes echolocation to locate food, like all bats in general. However, instead of preying on familiar insect species, this bat feeds on fish. It possesses the ability to emit sounds that penetrate both air and water environments, with these sounds reaching up to 140 decibels. These exceptionally loud sounds are ultrasonic, meaning they lie beyond the human hearing threshold.

Bulldog bats have orange to brown fur, head lengths ranging from 7 to 14 cm, and weigh between 20 - 75 g, making them quite large. They have relatively long legs, large feet (especially in the case of larger bulldog bats), and strong claws. Their wings are long (spanning up to 60 cm) and narrow, with large, funnel-shaped, and pointed ears. Unusual for bat species, they have cheek pouches to store food. They also have full lips divided by a fold of skin resembling 'rabbit lips,' along with cheek pouches, giving them a bulldog-like appearance.

Their upper jaw and front teeth are fused to provide strong support for the large canine teeth in the upper middle. Dental formula: 2/1, 1/1, 1/2, 3/3 = 28. Dental arches are forward. Unlike other bat species, the last cervical vertebra is not fused to the first thoracic vertebra. The second digit on the wing has an elongated metacarpal and a phalanx. The ischia are fused together and with the pelvic bone. The tail resembles a keel.

Smaller bulldog bat species are insectivorous, and while larger bulldog bats also consume insects, their primary food source is fish. They use echolocation to accurately pinpoint the ripples they create on the water surface.

The larger bulldog bats can scoop fish off the water surface with their long, curved claws about 2–3 cm below the water surface. It performs a sweep from 30 cm to 3 m before gradually increasing and turning its head to perform a reverse sweep. In one night, a bat can catch 20-30 small fish in this manner.

The cicada, also known as the tree cricket, is a superfamily of insects with large heads and wings with numerous veins. There are about 2,500 species of cicadas worldwide, in both temperate and tropical regions. Cicadas are the most well-known species of insects due to their larger size, distinctive appearance with large heads, and their ability to create buzzing, buzzing sounds throughout the summer. In the Appalachian region, Americans refer to cicadas as 'dry flies' because the cicada carcasses, after molting, remain intact and dry.

Of course, the cicada species cannot be absent from this list because you've had sleepless summer nights due to their loud calls. There are two types of cicadas: green cicadas and yellow cicadas. Males of both species can produce sounds up to 120 decibels, as if they were shouting out loud. But they don't use their mouths like we do when we're angry; instead, it's the sound from their abdomen. Their abdominal chirping is characteristic of the species, so they don't attract females they can't mate with.

Unlike other insects, like crickets, which create sounds by rubbing their wings together, male cicadas produce sound by vibrating two 'drums' made of thin membranes, developed from the chest cavity, with internal ribs. These rib loops stretch very quickly, vibrating the thin membrane, creating sound waves. The cicada's hollow abdomen can amplify the sound of its loud call. Cicadas sway and use their wings to create a rhythmic up-and-down motion for their 'song.' Each cicada species has a different tone, intensity, and pitch - to attract female cicadas of the same species.

Female cicadas cannot produce sound, but they also have two membranes on their bodies, only used to 'listen' to the male cicadas' songs and be lured. When male cicadas are not singing, they also use these two 'drums' as 'ears' to eavesdrop on the surrounding sounds. Some cicada species have the ability to produce sounds up to 120 dB, making them one of the loudest insects.