Screaming Piha

Overview

The screaming piha (Lipaugus vociferans) is a passerine bird belonging to the cotinga family. It is found throughout mainland South America, excluding Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, where it inhabits lowland evergreen forests.

Identification

• M measures 24 to 26 cm in length and weighs between 68 and 87 g.
• Adults feature medium gray upperparts with browner flight feathers and greater coverts, while the underparts are paler gray, becoming lightest on the throat.
• The bill has a black upper mandible and a dusky lower mandible with a pinkish base; legs are highly variable in colour, ranging from dark green to brown, gray, or black.
• Juveniles resemble adults but possess cinnamon rufous wing coverts and tail tips.
• Famous for its loud qui, qui, yo call, preceded by fainter grooves, which can exceed 110 decibels at one meter and is audible up to 400 m away.

Habitat

The species occupies a disjunct distribution, being widespread in the Amazon rainforest and present in the Atlantic Forest of Pernambuco and Bahia. It primarily inhabits lowland evergreen terra firme forest but is also found locally in igapó and várzea flooded forests. Its elevation range varies by country, from sea level up to 1,400 m in Venezuela, though most records occur below 900 m.

Diet

Feeding on a mix of fruit and insects, the screaming piha consumes Ficus figs, caterpillars, Orthoptera, and occasionally small lizards. It typically forages singly in the mid-story of the forest, taking fruit via sally from a perch, though it may occasionally join mixed-species feeding flocks. Large fruit seeds are regurgitated after consumption.

Did you know?

The vocalisation of the screaming piha exceeds 110 decibels at one meter, placing its loudness in the human range of 'discomfort' to 'pain' and ranking second only to the white bellbird among all birds.