So I have 2 Macaws, I also am fostering 2 lovebirds. I work with a parrot rescue group and have my 2 babies plus some transients until they get a new home. What I am curious about is how they are able to make up to about 135 decibels in noise, they at best weigh 3 lbs. Humans can only get up to 100 decibels on a good day and we all weigh a hell of a lot more. What makes these tiny creatures so loud?
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A higher percentage of the energy they use to create sound actually goes into actual sound creation.
Humans also yell at a significantly lower pitch, and it takes more energy to get a lower pitch up to a certain decibel level of loudness than it does a higher pitch. This means birds use far less energy to get a vocal sound up to a certain decibel level than humans do to get a human vocal sound to that same level
Birds also can direct sound better than humans (partially due to the higher pitches they use, high pitch sound is more easily directed than low pitch sound). So the relative volume difference between being in the direct path of a birds sound and being behind the bird is larger than the difference you’d hear being in front of a human yelling vs being behind them.
Just to add my tuppence worth – many birds are crepuscular (active at dawn & dusk). There is less background noise and the air is relatively still, which makes it a perfect time to sing.
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