Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 19, 2025

Evaluation of Auditory Brainstem Response in Chicken Hatchlings
Published on: April 1, 2022
Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) audiogram from 16 Hz to 8 kHz
1Department of Psychology, University of NE - Kearney, Kearney, NE, 68849, USA.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine if the Japanese quail, a domesticated, gallinaceous bird, could detect infrasound. Behavioral thresholds were determined for three birds, two males and one female, ranging from 16 Hz to 8 kHz. The animals' hearing range, at a cutoff of 60 dB SPL (re 20 μN/m2), covers 6.88 octaves, ranging from 59.5 Hz to 7 kHz. All animals had the greatest sensitivity to 2 kHz, with an average threshold of 4.4 dB SPL. Although the birds' threshold at 16 Hz was equivalent to that of humans, at no frequency did the birds' sensitivity ever exceed that of humans. Therefore, the Japanese quail does not hear infrasound.
Related Concept Videos
Hearing
The Cochlea
Auditory Perception
Auditory Pathway
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking...
Heart Sounds
Auscultation is the process of listening to these internal body sounds using a stethoscope. The heart produces four types of sounds, but only two—S1 and S2—can usually be heard with a stethoscope.
S1, also known as the "lub" sound, is caused by the closure of atrioventricular (A-V)...
Hair Cells

