Why roosters don’t go deaf from their own cries (5 photos)

The crow of a rooster is one and a half times the permissible limit. However, why doesn’t the bird go deaf?





We all know how long, strong and obsessive the rooster may crow in the morning. He does it not out of malice: crowing helps the bird to indicate its territory and tell everyone: “I’m the boss here!” But the cries of birds are really very loud, so why Don't the cockerels go deaf on their own?

It turns out that nature has come up with natural earplugs! And not simple ones, but with a special mechanism blocking sound precisely during crowing. But before we'll figure out how they work, let's find out: how in general Can the ears of birds hear?



The outside of a bird's ear is covered with feathers. It seems that they don't have ears at all. But feathers do not interfere with hearing. Moreover: the auditory canal in birds is wider, more voluminous and more prominent than those of mammals of the same size.





By the way, chickens are one of the few birds that have an earlobe. They come in white and red.

The principle of operation of a bird's ear differs little from that of human ear. Sound vibrations come from the drum membranes in the inner ear. There these vibrations are perceived hair cells. By bending under the influence of sound, cells translate wave into an electrical impulse and send them into the brain. Like on a piano: you press a key - you hear the note.



So, under the influence of very loud sounds, the hair cells bend too much and become damaged. As well as if you punched as hard as you could on grandma's piano. In order to harm the hair cells, a volume of 85 dB is sufficient. And roosters of different breeds scream in the range of 90-140 dB. This will make you deaf Can! But the birds do not go deaf. And that's why.



It turns out that there is another one in the structure of the roosters’ ears. the trick is a small piece of soft tissue. He does it the role of earplugs. The process is located right next to the eardrum: when the bird opens its beak, the fabric covers the membrane halfway. As soon as a rooster throws back his head to crow, this fabric immediately closes the eardrum completely. So what's yours Roosters simply don’t hear the crow. But others are listening their songs suffer!