Coyote Reverberations

To our delight, we quickly discovered that we had recorded three separate coyote outbursts, all taking place fairly close-by, though separated by long periods of silence. What immediately struck us was the beautiful echoes or “reverberations” of the howls and yips bouncing off the surrounding hills. What’s more, these are northeastern coyotes, which are quite a bit larger than coyotes in the Western States, and produce lower-pitched howls and yips that sound somewhat wolf-like and are quite pleasing to the ear (the cacophonous yipping of western coyotes is definitely not easy on one’s ears).
Note: The recording featured below is “3D binaural soundscape”. Please wear headphones for a spacious and immersive listening experience.
Coyotes sounding off in the middle of the night at Arnot Experimental Forest near Ithaca, N.Y. © Lang Elliott.
Often referred to as “Coy-Wolves,” eastern coyotes are not hybrids, though hybridization probably did occur “way back when” (and may still occur, but only in areas where the two species overlap). This may explain why eastern coyotes are about ten pounds heavier than their western counterparts. Of the dozens of coyote performances I’ve recorded through the years, all my favorites are from the Eastern states.
Of note is that I’ve manipulated the featured recording in two ways. First off, I’ve removed the long time intervals between the three outbursts, so that you can enjoy them all over a span of five minutes or so. And secondly, I have added a cricket chorus to the background. In the July 11 recording, there were virtually no background sounds other than the occasional rustling of mice or other small creatures. So I waited a few weeks and then went back to the exact same spot to record the pleasing insect chorus that becomes prominent by the end of July.
I rather like the mix and feel it improves the listening experience. Some, however, may feel that adding the crickets is misleading and invalidates the recording. In general I don’t do such layering, but in this case I decided it would be a good idea, especially given that I recorded the insects at the same location and that the coyotes are as likely to howl in August as they are July. So, as a self-proclaimed “recording artist,” I’ve opted to use my self-issued “artistic license” to bring more aesthetic balance to the soundscape, as opposed to treating it as an exact scientific documentation of sound events. How dare I do such a thing!??
So there you have it … Coyote Reverberations. I hope you appreciate these incredible coyote performances, along with my mix with insect songs. Please let me know what you think!
As always, I truly appreciate your feedback, so I encourage you to leave a comment below.
Naturally Yours,
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FANTASTIC!!!! I hear the coyotes howling and singing right out my front door, but it’s not quite like your amazing recording – so crisp, melodic, reverberating. I love the cricket background as well.
Yes … it’s really a nice recording and I feel extremely grateful (and lucky) to have been able to receive it.
Hi Lang, your recordings bring deep comfort when I am unable to wander at night. Truly healing for the human nervous system. I am grateful.
Beautiful, thank you for sharing!!
Fabulous Soundscape, and I appreciate the calming, connective cricket layering. Thanks so much for recording and sharing this Summer Symphony.
Just listened to these wonderful Eastern coyotes yesterday, and then last night we were awakened by a group of them singing near our Greenfield MA home. My spouse grabbed her phone and recorded not only their voices but our little dog’s voice joining in. I’d love to include the voice memo file here, if you let me know how to do it. Thanks so much for sharing your work.
Unfortunately, you can only post images here in the comment section. Might you consider sending it directly to me? I’d love to hear it. langelliott@mac.com
That I can do–stay tuned. And thanks!
Lang, this is definitely my favorite recording of yours! I enjoy all of your acoustic creations, but this one really fills my heart and soul with awe, and longing. Kinda like when I’m actually out IN Nature. Fabulous stuff…We don’t often get to hear coyotes in our neck of the woods (although I know they are here/we see them, very rarely). We’ve mostly heard the call of the “Song dog” out West. And here’s a story for you… My listening experience was enhanced by the sounds of a flock of geese flying overhead, outside our home as I was listening.… Read more »
Love this recording. Glad you added the cricket chorus— it adds to the experience. Always love your recordings. I find I experience nature more through hearing than through the visual. Thank you!
Thank you Joni!
i LOVE each and every one of your recordings. that being said, this particular one, i can say that i actually STARED at the howling of the coyote. i was there. absolutely beautiful, Lang. i thought the crickets added color too. lori i greatly appreciate the map by the way
Lori: So good to hear that you enjoyed my compilation. I keep listening to it as well, each time rather blown-away by the wonderful reverberation tails that the hilly forested landscape produced.
Hi Lang, good to see/hear you posting again! I love those eerie coyote calls in the stillness of the night. You sure have more “night music” than we do here in Britain! And, FWIW, I think your mix is legit. You were honest about this & the cricket chorus give the coyotes a sense of scale, something which is often difficult to achieve when the background is truly silent. Keep up the good work:)
Thank you Martin! I listened to some of your soundscapes on your website. Very nice work indeed!
Wonderful!!! This is fascinating to me to hear the difference in timbre between eastern coyotes and western coyotes in their vocalizations. I live in West Los Angeles right across the street from a golf course where a whole pack of coyotes has lived for many, many years. Their yips and howls are higher pitched than this. Thank you so much for sharing! I really enjoyed it.
Those western coyotes sure do raise a ruckus. I got a lot of coyote recordings in Picacho State Park north of Yuma. Perhaps not the most pleasing of outbursts, but definitely wildly energized and captivating.
Henrielm6@aol.com
Beautiful!
I love the combination of crickets and coyotes. Their haunting sound of the coyotes is beautiful. I can almost feel the night air when I listen. Thanks for bringing us all the wonderful sounds of nature.
You’re welcome Cyndi!
Wonderful music of nature as always! I always look forward to your emails! Can’t wait to hear the new update coming in a few days from in the ‘Pure Nature White Noise App for iPhone! Keep up the great work!
Ah … so you like my app? As you know, we’ll be adding a series of “long-form” recordings, plus we’re making changes to the user interface, in hopes of increasing the number of users.
I like the cricket chorus! The insects set the stage of where you are. The coyote songs might be too harsh to hear by themselves.
There was such a large range between the first howler’s deep notes (third segment) and the last howler’s high yips. Great recording and thank you for sharing your adventures with us.
I LOVE this! Gave me chills listening to the beauty of it! Thank you!
Lang…I thoroughly enjoyed this and am going to pass it along in my newsletter. It’s fun to listen and think of them as our Ozark coyotes eastern cousin..and I love the cricket chorus you added. Joy
I haven’t recorded coyotes in the Ozarks, though I have visited the Leatherwood Wilderness (near Mtn. View, Arkansas) four or five times. However, I’ve gotten some very nice coyote in Land Between the Lakes, KY, which isn’t that far away.
Where are you in the Ozarks?
Amazing recording, I love the reverb.
I live in a rural village in Vermont, and only hear these wild singers occasionally, but what a treat when they call out to each other! Thanks for this wonderful recording (and I’m fine with the crickets’ chorus mixed in, along with the occasional one joining in from somewhere in my house!)
I really enjoyed listening to the coyotes. I live in Northeast Texas at a lake. Lots of “Piney Woods”, so I hear them close to my house and enjoy the deer that come to eat the pears from my tree. So, thank you for this. I love it.
: >)
Oh my, this is so beautiful! Thank you. I think I could put this on a loop for a few hours and fall to sleep by it.
Sounds like a great idea!
I used to work at Cornell, and lived in Willseyville – occasionally was treated to the sounds of the coyotes at night. I’m up north in Geneva now, and miss them. This was a delight.
So you’ve probably been to Arnot Forest, up to the ridge area?
Actually, no, I haven’t. It was one of those places I always “meant to” but didn’t make the time while I was there. Looks – um, sounds – like a place I need to go.
Don’t rush. They’ve made a mess of things up on top by cutting down a bunch of trees and then bulldozing them to the edges of fields to create “natural” fences to keep deer out. Quite an eyesore, not natural at all, and will take decades to rot back into the earth. A clear example of making a mess and destroying aesthetics for the sake of management concerns.
Oh no. How sad. I’ll just bite my tongue here. Thanks for letting me know, Lang … I was about to put it on my “must go soon” list.
Hi Lang, Maine Coyote biologist here again to delight in your sound recording of our Native Wild Dog. Thank you for honoring Coyote by sharing their songs. May I ask your permission once again to use this recording in my work..and might you send me the link for it. Every time I use it, people know it is from you!
Geri: What did I do last time? Send you an mp3 version?
Thank you Lang. You sent me links, but you can send me a mp3 version. Just to help you out, I use them when I give my powerpoint talks…the people love them! And I have my webmaster place them on my Coyote website. Wat ever you think would be best for those uses. In much gratitude! And you know that I always attribute them to you.
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Germaine:
You can do that yourself on this website’s home page: https://musicofnature.com. Let me know if that doesn’t work out and I’ll go into Mailchimp myself and add your email.
The wolves sound beautiful to me but alarming to my dog. I could listen to just the crickets for hours, a perfect lullaby. That’s the sound I went to sleep with as a child. Thank you! Please keep me on the mailing list.
We enjoy such an insect chorus where I live on the outskirts of Ithaca, NY. So pleasurable to open the windows at night and enjoy the lullaby while drifting off to sleep. It lasts well into October, then quickly thins out and is more or less extinguished by the first hard frost, except for a few ground crickets that may vocalize intermittently into early November.
It’s a wonderful recording! Thank you for including the crickets – a favorite summer sound for me.
You’re welcome Carol!
I’ve never heard coyote in the wild- hauntingly beautiful! I think the subtle addition of crickets in the background is perfect and enhances the listening experience. Not to mention they, and Katydids are standard summer night time sounds I am familiar with.
There were no Common True Katydids sounding off on the high ridge in Arnot Forest, but they sure do make a racket at night here in downtown Ithaca where my studio is located.
Another recording to add to my “Favorites”! I also approve of the blending in of the crickets as this adds a nice balance and contrast to the Canis Latrans. Great work!
: >)
I love hearing coyotes singing. Even my pup took notice. Thank you!
What pup could ignore the primal sounds of their ancestors.
The echoing effect is wonderful. The pitch is much lower than the coyotes we hear in WV’s Northern Panhandle. I like the insect sounds to give a sense of place, like seeing the background in a photo.
Perhaps the wolf-gene effect (from former hybridizations) didn’t quite make it as far south as WV?
This is extremely beautiful. In regards to the crickets – to be honest, I generally prefer nature recordings to be left just the way they are. Even some longer “silent” intervals are okay with me…I prefer to listen to nature as it is. But that is just my personal take 🙂
Ah … finally a “purist” listener speaks up … and I hear you!
Wonderful, thank you!
Yes, the addition of the crickets gives a sense of place. And that howling! Those coyotes own the place.
Thanks Lang. Wonderful animals that we enjoy nightly.
Thank you John. You guys are near Finger Lakes National Forest, right? I once caught a coyote following my trail in FLNF. I had walked along a ditch separating two fields. Then I crossed one of the fields and circled back. It was then that I spotted the coyote’s tail, occasionally wagging up as it made it’s way down the ditch and then out into the field, exactly following my trail. When it finally noticed me standing there, it quickly ran away. It wasn’t after me, but was trusting I suppose that it would find interesting things along my path.
Great stuff Lang!
Thank you Ben!
This puts me in the mood to dream dreams of the ancient past.
Yes, such primal and emotionally-charged wild sounds certainly do encourage such a mood.
Beautiful, eerie, thrilling.
First time I used my headphones at home. Such a cool experience. It is like a coyote chorus the way their unique parts all fit together. I think the crickets sound very natural in the background and are soothing.
Binaural recordings are extremely immersive, but require full range headphones for the best listening experience. Earbuds will work, but they generally have weak a weak bass end which is very important for one to feel as if he is truly in an outdoor environment.
Love this! I recently moved from IL to south Florida and just starting to learn about the birds and wildlife here. People have seen coyotes but I haven’t seen or heard them yet. This is lovely and thank you for sharing it.
I’ve recorded in the Everglades and Big Cypress many times and I don’t recall ever getting any coyote. I have no idea why.
I always love to hear the vocalizations of our fellow non-human denizens of this world. At night, lying in bed before falling asleep, it is always a treat to hear coyotes, foxes, or owls. Your recording is great Lang! A couple of years ago, you joined one of Kristi Dranginis’s birdsong classes of which I was a part.
Yes, Kristi’s interview was fun. I trust she’s still going strong with her teachings?
She is and continues to inspire. I make the Master’s Class Zoom gatherings as I am able and always enjoy the hour long sessions. I retook the 2 Birdsong courses over this past spring and enjoyed them getting so much more on the second time through. Birdsong is so fascinating and I continue to learn!
Hauntingly beautiful. Thanks!
This recording is just so beautiful! It brings me peace. We used to hear (and see) coyotes on our small farm in Central Wisconsin, but there are more houses and mobile campgrounds being built around here and a lot of the wildlife is disappearing, to my great sadness. I haven’t heard a coyote for so long and this brought back many memories. Thanks so much.
Beautiful, and gives the feeling of the only sounds on earth
Great catch, Lang. I never mix, either, and I think your mix is appropriate. The crickets give a scale to the soundscape.
Thanks Dan. Done for the sake of aesthetics, which is certainly fine if recordings are edited and prepped to help people relax or immerse or other similar purposes. Not fine for totally accurate sharing of a specific experience. These days I’m exploring various avenues, even to the extent of creating binaural soundscapes from extracted “sound objects” that are then added back into an ambience … mostly done for teaching purposes because it allows me to control what is heard and when, and also near/far and the direction from which sound objects are coming from. Sennheiser’s “DearVR Pro” software is incredible… Read more »
Fabulous, Lang. As I love hearing crickets this time of year, I think adding them to the mix was the thing to do. I always smile when I hear coyotes call at night when I’m tucked up in bed. I love that they live nearby my western MA home.
I absolutely loved this! Thank you for sharing it!
Y’elcome
This is wonderful! Has anybody every figured out why coyotes and wolves can sound creepy or sad and mysterious . . . to humans? Obviously, the dogs who join in don’t feel saddened. Rather, they seem to enjoy the whole thing, especially when they can howl, too.
Their howls obviously resemble the uncontrollable wailing of humans when faced with tragedy. So it’s easy to assume that the canines are expressing a similar emotion. In this case, I think one’s intuition is mostly wrong, in that there is no evidence that I know of that coyotes or wolves howl when upset … with one notable exception … an unpaired male wolf will give extended, wavering howls that might serve to attract a mate while also betraying some element of loneliness and possibly sadness (though it’s hard to know for sure). Check out the “Wolf Love Song” in this… Read more »
Hauntingly beautiful! Different than our Illinois coyotes. Thank for the recording.
We hear the coyotes at our Ranch south of Cole Camp, MO but nothing as intense and loud as your video. The coyote sounds are incredible. Nancy MHS Class of 68..
Wow, Lang! I love it! Including the layering with crickets. An excellent use of artistic license. I have 2 cardigan corgis and they both came running in to listen. One of them chimed in howling along!! (and she usually only howls with the tea kettle!) Nicely done. Thank you for sharing. I always enjoy your blissful captures of nature in sound.