Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about bellbirds. For clarification, we’re specifically discussing the bellbirds found in Central America and northern South America, who are sometimes also known as neotropical bellbirds. There are, of course, because naming is never easy, other species of birds called bellbirds, such as the species living in New Zealand, however, the two groups are not related and simply share a common name. There are four species of bellbirds we’ll be talking about today and they are classified in the Procnias genus.

Perhaps most well known as the birds with the loudest calls on earth, bellbirds are generally discrete unless it’s breeding season; and even then it’s the males doing all the talking. Adult female and male bellbirds are easy to distinguish from one another because they look so different! There are four species of bell birds, and their common names are clearly based around the adult male’s appearance. First there is the three-wattled bellbird. These males have three dangly bits hanging from their bills and come with a white head and neck and a brown lower body. Next are the white bellbirds who are completely white save for the single, grey wattle hanging from their beaks. Bare throated bellbirds look quite similar to white bellbirds expect the bare throated bellbirds have teal feathers surrounding their beaks and they don’t have a wattle. Finally are the bearded bellbirds with brown heads, black, shaggy throats, and black wings. As we mentioned, though, this only applies to the males. The females in all bellbird species come in varying shades of yellow and olive green. They often go unnoticed beside their more ostentatious male counterparts, but even the males are more often heard than seen.

Female bellbirds don’t make the booming calls that give bellbirds their common name; though, personally, we find their calls to be more like metallic gongs rather than… bells. Here’s what a bellbird sounds like. What do you think?

Male bellbirds make these booming calls, which can be heard more than half a mile (0.8 kilometers) away, to attract mates. When a female is interested in the male’s calls, he’ll put on displays including tail spreading, jumping between branches, and waggling his wattles - at least if he has them. If the female accepts, they’ll mate, and then after that she’s on her own. Yup. These papas are nothing like emus, they leave the ladies to do all the work! A female bellbird may build her nest anywhere from ten to 75 feet (3-23 meters) off the ground in the crook of a tree. The nest is small as it only needs to hold a single egg. It takes just over three weeks for the egg to hatch and then about a month for the baby to leave the nest, but it’ll be years before they’re ready to start their own families!

Bellbirds are mostly found in wet forest habitats. They may live high in the mountains or down in agricultural lowlands - and some species, such as the three-wattled bellbirds, migrate between to two landscapes depending on the season. A bellbird’s preferred diet is fruit, and they especially love avocados. In fact, they actually help disperse the seeds of many of the plants they eat, either poo-ing seeds that have passed through their digestive systems or regurgitating seeds that won’t fit through their bodies. Male bellbirds are slightly larger than females though as a whole they average eleven inches (28 centimeters) in length. Aside from avocados, bellbirds eat drupes and berries.

For more facts on bellbirds, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Jono Martin for today’s request. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.