How loud is birdsong?
Close to the bird, territorial songbirds sing at roughly 74 to 100 dB, and a song thrush reaches a peak of 103 dB at 1 m. Heard at a normal distance, birdsong is far quieter: Purdue University lists bird calls at 44 dB and NOAA puts bird song at 60 dB.
- Level
- 74–103 dB maxunweighted maximum sound level
- Distance
- 1 mclose to the singing bird (song thrush figure at 1 m)
- Daily limit
- About 7 min 30 s a dayNIOSH, at the loud end
What the numbers mean
How it was measured. Song levels of territorial songbirds at close range: 74 to 100 dB across 17 species (Brackenbury 1979, as cited in Loning et al. 2022) and a peak source level of 103 dB re 20 µPa at 1 m for the song thrush (Jakobsen et al. 2021). Weighting not stated. At normal listening distances birdsong is much quieter (44 to 60 dB in Purdue and NOAA charts).
Song is meant to carry across a territory, so small birds sing surprisingly loudly. A 2022 study of zebra finches compared their quiet song (about 50.5 dB at 1 m) with the 74 to 100 dB range reported for 17 territorial songbird species by Brackenbury (1979). In song sparrows, 'regular' song ranged from 78 to 85 dB, while soft song used close to a mate ranged from 55 to 77 dB.
A 2021 review of the loudest animals, by Jakobsen and colleagues, lists the song thrush at a peak source level of 103 dB re 20 µPa at 1 m. The loudest known birds are much louder: the screaming piha at 116 dB and the white bellbird at 125 dB in the same table.
Distance makes a big difference, so the 44 dB that Purdue University gives for bird calls and the 60 dB NOAA gives for bird song describe birds heard from across a garden or park, not from a branch beside your head.
How long is safe?
NIOSH recommends no more than 7 min 30 s a day at 103 dBA (no limit at the quiet end, 74). OSHA's legal limit is 1 h 19 min. This is a maximum, so a time limit based on it is a worst case. This level is not A-weighted, so the times are approximate: low-pitched sound measures lower in dBA.
| Level | NIOSH limit (85 dBA, 3 dB rule) | OSHA limit (90 dBA, 5 dB rule) | UK/EU 80 dB(A) action value reached after | UK/EU 85 dB(A) action value reached after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 74 dB max | No limit | No limit | Not reached in 24 h | Not reached in 24 h |
| 103 dB max | 7 min 30 s | 1 h 19 min | 2 min 24 s | 7 min 36 s |
Times are for a whole day’s exposure, with the rest of the day quiet. The workplace limits were written for adults at work, not for children. Work out a mixed day with the noise dose calculator.
Protecting your hearing
No protection needed for ordinary birdsong. Pet parrots and cockatoos screaming at close range can be much louder; keep cages away from where people sit for long periods.
Earplug and earmuff ratings (NRR in the US, SNR in the UK and EU) are lab figures; real-world protection is usually lower. How to read the ratings.
Compared with sounds nearby
Using midpoints of each range. Energy multiplies by 10 every 10 dB; perceived loudness roughly doubles (why).
- Ocean waves (60–78 dB): this has about 89× its sound energy and sounds about 3.9× as loud.
- Smoke alarm (85 dB): this has about 2.2× its sound energy and sounds about 1.3× as loud.
- Sonic boom (75–110 dB max): it has about 2.5× the sound energy of this and sounds about 1.3× as loud.
- Bagpipes (85–102 dB): it has about 3.2× the sound energy of this and sounds about 1.4× as loud.
Questions
How loud is a bird singing?
Territorial songbirds sing at about 74 to 100 dB close to the bird; a song thrush peaks at 103 dB at 1 m. From a normal distance, charts give 44 to 60 dB.
What is the loudest bird?
The white bellbird of the Amazon, whose loudest song averages about 125 dB, measured by Podos and Cohn-Haft in 2019.
Sources
- Zebra finch song is a very short-range signal in the wild: evidence from an integrated approach, Behavioral Ecology (Loning et al., 2022), via PMC. Supports: dB_low: 74 dB; range 74 to 100 dB.
much lower than the 74–100 dB range of 17 previously reported territorial songbird species
Checked 2026-11-02. - Zebra finch song is a very short-range signal in the wild: evidence from an integrated approach, Behavioral Ecology (Loning et al., 2022), via PMC. Supports: body: song sparrow levels.
in song sparrows ( Melospiza melodia ), soft song ranged from 55 to 77 dB whereas “regular” song ranged from 78 to 85 dB
Checked 2026-11-02. - Zebra finch song is a very short-range signal in the wild: evidence from an integrated approach, Behavioral Ecology (Loning et al., 2022), via PMC. Supports: body: zebra finch 50.5 dB at 1 m.
Amplitude at 1 m was 50.5 ± 0.8 dB SPL
Checked 2026-11-02. - How Loud Can you go? Physical and Physiological Constraints to Producing High Sound Pressures in Animal Vocalizations, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Jakobsen et al., 2021). Supports: dB_high: song thrush 103 dB peak at 1 m.
Turdus philomelos 103 143 Brackenbury, 1979
Checked 2026-11-02. - How Loud Can you go? Physical and Physiological Constraints to Producing High Sound Pressures in Animal Vocalizations, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Jakobsen et al., 2021). Supports: conditions: table values are peak dB re 20 µPa at 1 m.
(peak dB re 20 μPa at 1 m)
Checked 2026-11-02. - How Loud Can you go? Physical and Physiological Constraints to Producing High Sound Pressures in Animal Vocalizations, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (Jakobsen et al., 2021). Supports: body: white bellbird 125 dB.
Procnias albus 125 161
Checked 2026-11-02. - Noise Comparisons (Noise Sources and Their Effects), Purdue University Department of Chemistry, Chemical Safety. Supports: body: bird calls 44 dB.
Library, bird calls (44 dB); lowest limit of urban ambient sound 40
Checked 2026-11-02. - Hearing Conservation (archived 2009 copy, End of Term Web Archive), NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Supports: body: bird song 60 dB.
60 Normal Conversation, Bird Song
Checked 2026-11-02.
This page is general information, not medical advice. If you have ringing in your ears, muffled hearing or any change in your hearing, see an audiologist or your doctor.