The three-wattled bellbird is among these unmistakable birds. It has a stunning coat of bright white and reddish-brown. Their face, head, and neck are white while the other parts are covered in iridescent reddish-brown. Noticeably, this species has three wattles dangling from the beak. They look like a man's mustache, right?

Unlike male birds, the females are duller with an olive color and yellow streaks on the belly. They also lack 3 wattles of the males and have a larger beak, blackish-brown eyes, and grey feet. Three-wattled bellbirds are also known for their strange alien-like song. People have described it as a mix of bell-like chimes, interspersed with strange, and metallic clicks. For this strange song, this species is considered one of the loudest birds in the world.

Currently, they are classed as vulnerable due to habitat loss. This species only inhabits Central America from eastern Honduras to Western Panama. They breed in high elevations in Costa Rica. During the breeding season, male birds shake their wattles while singing to attract the females.

A mature male three-wattled bellbird is chest-nut brown and between 25 and 30 cm (10-12 in) long - about the size of a grackle. The body, tail, and wings of the male bellbird are uniformly chestnut-brown, its head white with a black eye-ring, eye-stripe, and bill. Its name comes from the three worm-like wattles of skin that hang from the base of the bill. These wattles can be as long as 10 cm (4 in) and the middle of the three can be erected into an upright position. The female bellbirds are smaller and somewhat less striking in appearance. They are golden-brown across the back of the wings and tail with whitish streaking on the face, a buffy-streaked throat, and golden-brown streaking down the chest with pale-grey undertail coverts.

When the season is over, these bellbirds fly off to lowland areas for winter. The main diets of these birds are large fruits, usually in the higher forest canopy. They feed on fruit, especially those in the Lauraceae family. Because of this they are considered an altitudinal migrant as they follow fruiting peaks around the country and even cross borders into neighboring countries on both North and South ends of Costa Rica.

Because of the secretive behavior of this bird, it is often only detected by its distinctive bell-like call given by the males. At close range, the vocalization is heard as a complex three-part song, the final "bonk" giving the bird its name. This hollow, wooden "bonk" is thought to be among the loudest bird calls on Earth, audible to humans from over half a mile away. Watch the video of these striking birds below: