How Nature Uses Sound

How Animals Use Sound To Locate, Communicate and Kill

I looked at how animals such as bats rely more on sound than their eyes. Bats use ultrasound to hunt their pray. How it works is that the produce a blast of ultrasound which bounces onto an object or prey and the waves bounce off of the prey and back to the bat. In the direction that the bat is receiving the ultrasound, that is where the prey is located.

 Dolphins use clicking sounds in order to identify prey. Dolphins make a wide array of sounds, including clicks, moans, chirps,creaks, barks, squeaks, yaps, mews, and whistles.
 Dolphins use clicking noises in echolocation, which bounce off objects underwater. This allows them to navigate, identify prey and friends, and avoid obstacles and predators. Dolphins use whistles to maintain contact within their pod or when meeting other pods of dolphins. Their whistles may signal danger, a call for help, or simply identification. Scientists think that each dolphin has its own signature whistle, sort of like our names. Whistles may also help dolphins hunt cooperatively and coordinate migratory movements.

 source of info: http://www.gma.org/marinemammals/communication.html

Sperm whales have the world’s largest biological sound machine housed within their 10-ton heads.
It has been said that this sound that the sperm whale produces can be tweaked into a deadly weapon. Here the image shows the Sperm Whale using the loud blast of ultrasound to stun its prey. 

The Lyrebird

 

 

Birds use their voices to make sounds for all sorts of reasons, such as: claiming territory, seeking mates, begging for food, calling their chicks or mate, staying in touch with flock mates, scolding an intruder of the same species or different species, announcing the presence of a predator, singing a duet with a mate and many other reasons.
Sound is a great form of bird communication because it can carry beyond where birds can see. In some cases, sounds can travel over a mile or several miles under the right conditions. Also, if you are a bird that lives in a thicket, it helps to use your voice to stay in touch with your mate or with the members of your flock.
Source of info: http://www.wildernesscollege.com/bird-communication.html

The bird in the image is the Lyrebird. This bird can imitate the sound of anything it hears. The purpose for this is to attract a mate. It can make sounds from car alarms, camera shutters, and even a chainsaw. It can even mimic the sounds of its fellow bird, even fooling the real bird. And the more complex the sound, the better chance of it attracting a mate.