The Incredible Call of the Southern Cassowary
Going to as low as 24Hz, these deep calls are bordering on ‘infrasound’. Low-frequency sounds carry a significant distance and are no doubt an effective way for cassowaries to communicate in dense rainforest.
Cassowary sounds
I recorded this first sample from a captive bird in a wildlife park near Sydney, Australia. Hearing the call up close was an a little unnerving – I ‘felt’ the sound as much as I heard it. It sounded more like the growl of a large mammal than a bird!
To hear the cassowary’s deep vibrating booms in the example below, you’ll need decent speakers or headphones – speakers on a mobile device or laptop will not transmit these frequencies.
The following video contains a few different examples of Southern Cassowary sounds:

Other Bird Sounds
Other bird calls from the Australian bush:
- Black Cockatoo, Yellow-tailed
- Boobook, Australian
- Bowerbird, Golden
- Bowerbird, Satin
- Bowerbird, Spotted
- Butcherbird, Grey
- Butcherbird, Pied
- Catbird, Spotted
- Cassowary, Southern
- Cockatiel
- Cockatoo, Palm
- Cuckoo, Channel-billed
- Currawong, Pied
- Emu
- Frogmouth, Tawny
- Koel, Pacific
- Kookaburra, Laughing
- Lyrebird, Superb
- Magpie, Australian
- Miner, Bell
- Owl, Australian Masked
- Owl, Eastern Barn
- Owl, Powerful
- Owl, Barking
- Owl, Lesser Sooty
- Owl, Greater Sooty
- Owlet-nightjar, Australian
- Parrot, Eclectus
- Shrikethrush, Grey
- Wagtail, Willie
- Whipbird, Eastern
- Whistler, Australian Golden
- Whistler, Rufous
Birdsong of the Australian Bush
Native birdsong from six different habitats in the Australian bush
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