How do Roosters maintain their hearing?

For today's blog we thought we would deviate a bit and give you some interesting animal facts.

Now, if you have ever heard a Rooster crowing you know the sound can be quite loud. In fact, researchers who recorded Rooster calls found that some can be well over 100 decibels; loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. Fortunately, the sound drops off quickly the further you get from the animal, so farmers don’t have to worry about hearing loss from these loud calls. What about the Rooster? The sound at their ear canals from their own crows was measured at 100 plus decibels. This begs the question: do Roosters lose their hearing from the noise of their own calls?

Well, the researchers wondered the same thing. What they found is that Roosters ear canals close off when they open their beaks to crow, essentially creating a built in earplug. This is how they maintain their hearing in the face of such loud calls.

If only we humans had a similar mechanism to protect our hearing. However, we must rely on putting in earplugs when immersed in loud noise, so make sure to put in your ear protection when working or playing around noise.

For more information on hearing and noise please contact Accurate Hearing at one of our convenient locations:

Lower Sackville: 902-252-3004

Cole Harbour: 902-406-4327