The screaming piha is a species of passerine bird in the family Cotingidae, the cotingas. It is found in every mainland South American country except Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Region
Amazon Basin and northern South America
Typical Environment
Occurs widely in lowland tropical rainforests across the Amazon Basin and the Guianas, including terra firme and seasonally flooded várzea forests. It favors tall, mature forest but also uses edges, clearings, and secondary growth with large fruiting trees. Birds typically perch high in the midstory to canopy, often near gaps where sound carries. Common along river corridors and in forested foothills where suitable habitat persists.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1200 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Famous for having one of the loudest bird calls on Earth, its piercing whistle carries for hundreds of meters through the rainforest. Males gather at loose leks to perform and sing, while the otherwise drab, cryptic birds remain motionless high in the canopy. Its call is so iconic that it is frequently used in films and nature documentaries to evoke the Amazon.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats between high perches
Social Behavior
Males display at loose leks, each calling from a favored perch to attract visiting females. Outside the breeding context they are mostly solitary and quiet, spending long periods perched motionless in the canopy. The female builds a small cup nest and raises the young with little or no male assistance.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A piercing, metallic whistle that rises sharply and then falls, often rendered as a clear, ringing wheeeee-ep. The call is extraordinarily loud for a passerine and carries far through dense forest, delivered repeatedly from exposed canopy perches.
Plumage
Uniform, plain plumage with smooth, unpatterned appearance; males cool gray, females slightly browner or duskier.
Diet
Primarily eats ripe fruits, swallowing them whole and later regurgitating seeds, thus aiding seed dispersal. Also takes small arthropods, especially during breeding, by sallying from perches or gleaning. Forages methodically and spends long intervals scanning from a high vantage point for fruiting trees.
Preferred Environment
Feeds in the midstory and canopy at fruiting trees, along forest edges, gaps, and river margins. Frequently visits isolated fruiting trees that protrude above the canopy where visibility is high.
