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Australia is home to a diverse range of wildlife, some of which are known for their loud and unique calls. From the iconic Laughing Kookaburra to the surprising Koala, Australian animals showcase a range of vocal abilities. The Green Grocer Cicada, a native insect, holds the title for the loudest insect in the world, reaching an impressive 120 decibels. Male Koalas, often perceived as quiet, can produce deep bellowing calls to attract mates, while the Australian Lyrebird can mimic everyday sounds like car alarms, making it one of the most annoying birds. The Greater Sooty Owl, native to southeastern forests, is known for its 'falling bomb whistle', a screeching call that carries long distances. These are just a few examples of Australia's loudest animals, each with their own fascinating vocal traits.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Loudest mammal | Male Koala |
| Loudest insect | Cicada |
| Loudest bird | Australian Lyrebird |
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What You'll Learn
The Koala is the loudest Australian mammal
The koala, often regarded as a cute and cuddly animal, is the loudest Australian mammal. Male koalas have a voice that can be heard from miles away, with various squeaks, screams, and snarls. However, their most common sound is a deep bellow, which serves to attract mates and intimidate rivals. This low-pitched call is produced by a larynx that sits deeper in the throat than in other animals.
Koalas are native to Australia and have been living on the continent for over 30 million years. They are easily recognised by their large round heads, big furry ears, and big black noses. Their fur is typically grey-brown, with white fur on the chest, inner arms, ears, and bottom. Koalas are arboreal, or tree-dwelling, mammals, and their sharp claws and strong limbs are well-adapted for climbing trees. They are also known for their distinctive appearance, along with their ability to survive on a diet of eucalyptus leaves, which most other mammals avoid due to its toxic compounds.
While koalas are popular and beloved creatures in Australia, they are considered defenceless and vulnerable to even the simplest predators. They face challenges such as tooth decay due to their abrasive diet and the need to grind eucalyptus leaves, which can trigger tooth decay after maturity. Additionally, their distribution has been impacted by clearing and fragmentation of eucalypt woodlands for agriculture and human settlement.
In terms of communication, adult male koalas use bellows not only for mating but also for marking their presence with secretions from scent glands located on their chests. Koalas are asocial, with only mothers bonding with their young, known as joeys. These joeys are born at a very early stage of development and crawl into their mothers' pouches, where they remain for the first six to seven months of their lives.
Overall, despite their seemingly calm and cuddly nature, koalas possess a powerful voice that carries across great distances, earning them the distinction of being the loudest Australian mammal.
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The Green Grocer Cicada is the loudest insect in the world
Australia is home to over 200 species of cicadas, and the Green Grocer Cicada is the loudest of them all, making it the loudest insect in the world. The Green Grocer Cicada, also known as the Great Green Cicada, is a species of cicada distributed through the coastal regions of southeastern Australia. It is one of Australia's most familiar insects.
The Green Grocer Cicada is a loudmouth, reaching an ear-splitting 120 decibels. To put that into perspective, prolonged exposure to a noise level of 90 decibels is harmful to the human ear, and 120 decibels can cause immediate harm. The noise comes from a pair of organs called tymbals on their abdomen, which they flex. The insects also sometimes sing in chorus as a defence against predators, confusing them and making it difficult to identify individuals.
The Green Grocer Cicada is a large insect, measuring 6cm long, which is 2cm longer than average. They spend seven years in nymph form drinking sap from plant roots underground before emerging from the earth as an adult. The adults live for only about six weeks, flying around, mating, and breeding over the summer.
The Green Grocer Cicada is a distinctive-looking insect, with green specimens commonly known as green grocers and yellow ones as yellow Mondays. They have several other colourful vernacular names, including Chocolate Soldier for a rare dark tan form, Blue Moon for a rare turquoise form, and Masked Devil for the red-orange form.
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The Australian Lyrebird can mimic car alarms and chainsaws
The Australian lyrebird is a songbird that produces sound with a vocal organ called a syrinx, which is roughly equivalent to the human larynx. The syrinx of the lyrebird is slightly different in structure from that of most other songbirds, with fewer syringeal muscles. However, despite this, the lyrebird is an ultra-talkative bird with an incredible ability to mimic almost any sound it hears.
The lyrebird is commonly found in the Australian rainforests and is known for its impressive calls, which include the mimicry of camera shutters, other bird species, and chainsaws. One of the most fascinating aspects of the lyrebird is its ability to imitate man-made sounds, such as car alarms and construction noises like drills, hammer strikes, and even the tone changes as a nail is driven home. This behaviour is particularly common in captivity, where lyrebirds are exposed to a variety of unnatural sounds.
In the wild, male lyrebirds flawlessly imitate numerous bird species and multiple calls from each. They are especially fond of mimicking Australia's iconic laughing kookaburras, and their impersonations are so convincing that they can elicit a response from the real birds. Up to 80% of a lyrebird's song can consist of mimicry, and this ability to imitate is believed to be sexually selected, playing a role in attracting mates. During mating season, males sing for hours at a time, shaking their tail feathers and performing elaborate choreography to impress females.
The lyrebird's remarkable mimicry extends beyond just cameras, chainsaws, and car alarms. In some cases, lyrebirds have been known to mimic the sounds of other man-made objects like toy guns, construction sites, and even panda enclosures being built in nearby zoo exhibits. This showcases the incredible versatility and range of the lyrebird's vocal abilities.
While the exact biological mechanisms behind the lyrebird's exceptional mimicry are not yet fully understood, it is believed that they possess excellent hearing and memory. The lyrebird's syrinx, despite having fewer muscles, enables them to produce a vast array of sounds, challenging the typical correlation between syringeal muscle count and vocal complexity.
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The Curlew's call carries for long distances
The Curlew is a large, long-billed shorebird native to Australia. Its call is loud and carries for long distances, sometimes signalling a change in weather, particularly the coming of rain. Curlews are highly territorial during the breeding season, and their screaming calls serve to deter intruders and announce that a territory is occupied. The calls also signal alarm and warn intruders that they have been spotted.
Curlews possess specialised physical adaptations that allow them to produce their loud, far-carrying screams. They are among the largest shorebirds worldwide, ranging from 22 to 28 inches in length and weighing up to 2 pounds for the largest species. Their large body size provides greater lung capacity to generate the air volume needed for loud screams and gives them greater physical stamina for prolonged calling sessions. Their extremely long, curved bills of up to 8 inches act as a natural megaphone, amplifying their calls. The curving bill shape and large resonating gular pouch under the throat give their screams a far-reaching quality.
Curlews fill their expandable gular pouch with air and then exhale to create their distinctive sound. The pouch acts like a resonator to augment and carry the sound. Their calls can carry several hundred meters across marshes and mudflats, and mates use the screams to locate each other and coordinate feeding and chick-rearing duties. Curlews also vocalise in flight, especially on moonlit nights during migration, to maintain contact with their flock.
The alarm and contact call of the male and female Long-billed Curlew is a harsh, whistled "cur-lee", rising on the second note. They also give a rapid whistled tremolo with a slight stuttering quality. The Curlew's call, once common on wetlands, is now seldom heard.
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The Eastern Grey Kangaroo makes coughing noises when competing for females
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo, a marsupial mammal, is one of the loudest animals in Australia. Male Eastern Grey Kangaroos make loud coughing noises, often when competing for females. These coughing noises are also described as growls or barks. This behaviour is not limited to competing for females, as male kangaroos also make these noises when tussling with rival males.
Eastern Grey Kangaroos are found in a variety of habitats, including semi-arid mallee scrub, woodlands, farmland areas with remnant vegetation, and forests. They tend to favour denser scrubs and forests and are found in most eastern states, including Tasmania.
The Eastern Grey Kangaroo is one of the four abundant species of kangaroo that can be commercially harvested for export, but only by licensed hunters. They are not considered threatened or endangered.
Kangaroos are known to make various sounds, including hisses, growls, and clicks. Females make clicking noises to communicate with their offspring, and males 'chuckle' during courtship. The most commonly heard noise made by a kangaroo, however, is the sound of its feet thumping the ground as it bounds away.
While the Eastern Grey Kangaroo is one of Australia's loudest animals, other contenders include the koala, whose deep bellow can be heard from miles away, and the common bushtail possum, whose throaty coughs and growls at night can keep residents awake.
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Frequently asked questions
The Koala is the loudest mammal in Australia. During the breeding season, male koalas use deep bellowing calls to attract mates.
The decibel level of a Koala's call is not mentioned in any sources. However, human conversation is around 60 decibels, and sounds above 120 decibels can cause pain to human ears.
The Laughing Kookaburra, the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, the Western Grey Kangaroo, the Greater Sooty Owl, the Common Bushtail Possum, and the Australian Lyrebird are some other loud animals in Australia.
