You shouldn’t be able to hear this! That’s because most bat echolocation is outside the range of human hearing. This recording was altered to make it audible for people. It is one of many recordings Parks Canada has taken to better understand which species of bats live in Banff National Park. These recordings will help identify where bats live, how many of them there are and may give clues about the location of their roosting and maternity sites. Banff National Park is lucky to be home to at least seven of Canada’s 19 bat species, including the endangered Little Brown Myotis. Several bat species are under threat in Canada and across North America from white-nose syndrome. The impact of this disease on bats is profound. The Little Brown Myotis is now facing a massive population decline in Eastern Canada. The information from these recordings will help us understand its impacts and whether the white-nose syndrome has arrived in Banff National park.

Recordist: Banff National Park

Little brown bat calls -- Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

There are a variety of forest bird species calling in this recording, including a Red-eyed Vireo (beginning of the recording), whose song has the pneumonic "Here I am, where are you?"

Recordist: Sheena Parsons

Pukaskwa Forest Birds --Pukaskwa National Park, Ontario, Canada

Dawn recording in a fire scarred area from 2012 in this area of the Park. The flora was just starting to come back. There were some post fire indicator species such as black backed woodpeckers present.

Recordist: Greg Weddig
Website: www.gregweddig.net

Dawn Ambience -- Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, U.S.A.

Waves carried by the incoming tide and summer breezes break on the smooth pebble beach of La Bloc Beach, Cape Breton, NS., Canada.

Recordist: Jack Heinemann

Pebble Beach Surf -- Cape Breton Highlands National Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve & Haida Heritage Site sits on the edge of the continental shelf. The open Pacific stretches to the west, the shallow and unpredictable Hecate Strait to the east. Visitors may catch a glimpse of some of the many marine mammals that live and travel through these waters as they come to the surface. But imagine being able to listen in as they go about their day-to-day lives. Hydrophones, special underwater microphones, have opened up this world to us. What do you think this pod of Killer Whales is saying?

Recordist: Gowgaia Institute

Transient Killer Whale Sounds -- Gowgaia Bay National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, Canada

Ambience recording with loon calls. A sound stage representative for many forest lakes in the middle and southern parts of Sweden.

Recordist: Stefan Edlund
Website: naturereflections.se

Loons -- Tranningen Nature Reserve, Sweden

Listen to the sound of the midday surf break on the rocks of beach of the Hawk where a 1500 year old petrified forest lies preserved in the sand.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Ocean Surf -- The Hawk Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada

Listen to the sounds of a hillside stream trickle through a forest of fall colors during late October.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Stream Trickle -- Cape Breton Highlands Provincial Park, Nova Scotia, Canada

Dozens of songbirds and waterfowl fill the cool June air with a rich chorus of sounds next to an ancient beaver pond in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: https://www.jacobrjob.com/

Dawn next to a beaver pond -- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Tiny Lapland Longspurs sing out from their summer home on the tundra of Auvalik National Park.

Recordist: Parks Canada
Website: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nt/aulavik

Lapland Longspurs Singing -- Aulavik National Park, Northwest Territories, Canada

As the summer sun rises on the west side of Prince Albert National Park, birds introduce the day with a lilting morning chorus. The park is situated in a transitional zone between aspen parkland and boreal forest, which makes it a great home to the over 200 bird species recorded here.  Species like Mountain Bluebirds and Clay-Colored Sparrows live in the fescue meadows and patches of aspen woods that dot the west side.

Recordist: Joanne Watson

Forest Birds -- Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada

Dusk recording of Tropical Storm Chris entering from the Gulf of Mexico.

Recordist: Alan Monroy

Tropical Storm Chris -- Kiekari Private Protected Area, Xico, Veracruz, Mexico

Early morning recording of many montane neotropical birds such as White-fronted Parrot, Brown-backed Solitaire, Common Chlorospingus, Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher, and Boat-billed Flycatcher.

Recordist: Alan Monroy

Cloud Forest Morning -- Kiekari Private Protected Area, Xico, Veracruz, Mexico

Dusk recording of Chol Indigenous Community with tropical birds, howler monkeys, street dogs howling, roosters, domestic turkeys, a motorcycle, and a local speaker. This is considered an indigenous rural landscape.

Recordist: Alan Monroy

Indigenous Community Evening -- Chol Indigenous Community, Frontera Corozal, Chiapas, Mexico

Cloud forest landscape along a stream with Brown-backed Solitaire and Montezuma Oropendola singing.

Recordist: Alan Monroy

Morning birds along a river -- Salvaterra Private Protected Area, Veracruz, Mexico

Dawn chorus of Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, Common Grackle, and American Crow in a cypress hammock in Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida.

Recordist: Jack Heinemann

Rookery Dawn Chorus -- Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, U.S.A.

Morning Chorus -- Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, U.S.A.

Barred owls duet in early morning - cypress swamp in Florida.

Recordist: Jack Heinemann

Barred Owl Duet -- Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, U.S.A.

White ibis flock takeoff from roost in early morning - cypress hammock in Florida.

Recordist: Jack Heinemann

Ibis Moment -- Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, U.S.A.

Recording made along Woodlands Trail, Point Pelee National Park highlights the great diversity of songbirds thath call this tiny spit of land home.

Recordist: Leonardo Cabrera
Recordist website: https://soundcloud.com/case-official

Songbirds Soundscape -- Point Pelee National Park, Ontario, Canada

Recording was made from the safety of a side-by-side, sitting in the tern colony of Main Station. You can get a great feel for just how noisy these colonies can be, with hundreds or thousands of birds living in close proximity to each other.

Recodist: Rebecca Foon
Recordist website: https://www.rebeccafoon.com/

Common Tern Colony -- Sable Island National Park Reserve, Nova Scotia, Canada

This is an excerpt from a 4-hour recording at the banks of the Limpopo River which is the South Africa/Botswana border. The conservancy is part of both countries and is managed privately by local wildlife ranchers.

Recordist: Luke Pearson
Website: www.lukewarmsound.com

Dawn Chorus along the Limpopo River -- Mmabolela Conservancy, Limpopo, South Africa

The energetic song of the Winter Wren, consisting of very musical trills and chatter, is a common sound of the boreal forest in spring and summer where it breeds. The species itself is small and it moves about often unseen, but with its loud voice and complex song it is rarely unheard. The vegetation of the forest adds a lovely reverberation to its song. Here on the Schoodic Peninsula, on this foggy day with light precipitation, a fog signal can also be heard sounding-off in the background every 2 minutes.

Recordist: Laura Sebastianelli
Website: https://schoodicnotes.blog/

Singing Winter Wren -- Acadia National Park, Maine, U.S.A.

The calls of Greater Flamingos on the mud flats of Delta de l'Ebre Natural Park in Spain.

Recordist:
Website: http://www.catalunya.com/delta-de-lebre-natural-park-17-17001-573534?language=en

Greater Flamingo -- Delta de l'Ebre Natural Park, Catalonia, Spain

A traditional Mi’gmaq mawiomi performed on sacred Mi’gmaq land within Kouchibouguac National Park. During this vibrant celebration of Indigenous culture, nations are celebrated with spirituality, traditional songs, drumming, dancing, music, artists and artisans, storytelling, culinary delights, and indigenous games.

Recordist: Samantha Larouche
Website: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/kouchibouguac

Mi'gmaq Mawiomi -- Kouchibouguac National Park, New Brunswick, Canada

A pack of three coyotes start a midwinter day before dawn with a lively chorus of howls.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Coyotes wakes up in Yellowstone -- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Dawn chorus of birds along the Mauna Loa Road in Kīpuka Kī.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Dawn Chorus at Kīpuka Kī -- Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, U.S.A.

Listen to songbirds at dawn along a rocky stream beneath old growth forest in the hills of southern Illinois.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Morning songbirds in Ripple Hollow -- Shawnee National Forest, Illinois, U.S.A.

Listen the the dawn chorus at this remnant/restored prairie in central Iowa.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Dawn chorus on an ancient prairie -- Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge, Iowa, U.S.A.

The songs of birds echo through giant Sequoias towering over a massive meadow.

Recordist: Jacob Job
Website: www.jacobrjob.com

Giant forest meadow evening birdsong -- Sequoia National Park, California, U.S.A.

An Eastern Screech-Owl calls out into the humid nighttime air in the hills of central Maryland.

Recordist: Scott McFarland

Eastern Screech-Owl at night -- Catoctin Mountain National Park, Maryland, U.S.A.

Dawn chorus in Ackerson Meadow in Yosemite National Park.

Recordist: Dan Dugan
Website: www.naturesounds.org

Dawn chorus in the Ackerson Meadow -- Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.A.

An Argentine dawn chorus of birds, including Euler's Flycatcher, Olive Spinetail, Streaked Flycatcher, Sharp-tailed Streamcreeper, Variable Antshrike, Rufous-bellied Thrush, and Pale-breasted Thrush.

Recordist: Miguel Castelino

Dawn chorus along a stream -- Reserva de Vida Silvestre Urugua-I, Misiones, Argentina

Morning chorus of birds, including Whooping Cranes, from the Wetlands Pull-Off in Wood Buffalo National Park.

Recordist: Parks Canada

Morning chorus with Whooping Cranes -- Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada

This is what a Western Lowland gorilla living in Monte Alen would hear in the morning after a good night sleep.

Recordist: David Fernández
Website: https://david-fernandez.weebly.com/

Rainy morning in the rainforest -- Monte Alén National Park, Equatorial Guinea

Bird song and insects in the morning. Some birds you might hear include Puerto Rican Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Puerto Rican Spindalis, Lesser Antillean Pewee, Bananaquit, Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Puerto Rican Bullfinch, and Puerto Rican Emerald.

Recordist: Omar Carmona
Website: https://www.paralanaturaleza.org/

Morning sounds in a Puerto Rican forest -- Rio Maricao Natural Protected Area, Maricao, Puerto Rico

The Mouth of the Saguenay is like an underwater cathedral, sounds bounce off cliffs and echo, creating this ethereal sound when belugas vocalize. The area is crucial summer territory for the St-Lawrence beluga, an endangered species. It is also one of the busiest sectors of the Marine Park, where each year thousands of boats travel in the beluga’s habitat. Between May and October, lower speed limits are in effect in order to reduce disturbance created by marine traffic.

Recordist: Yvan Simard, Chaire de Pêches et Océans Canada en acoustique sous-marine aux mammifères marins et leur écosystème, Institut des Sciences de la mer de Rimouski, Université du Québec à Rimouski

Belugas and a Minke whale in the Saguenay River -- Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park, Canada

Listening to the sounds of nature has been shown to have many health benefits. To celebrate the acoustical beauty and diversity of the world's national parks and other protected areas, we are working together to develop the 'Sounds of Your Park' initiative. Our goals are to increase understanding of the acoustical environment as a park resource, increase understanding of soundscapes as an important part of ecosystem health and the visitor experience, and provide interpreters with tools for developing programs that will connect visitors to park soundscapes. 

Sounds of Your Park is an opportunity for people across the globe to virtually travel to the planet's most protected places, while listening to the vast diversity of sounds that exist there. Pretty cool! To experience Sounds of Your Park, visit www.soundsofyourpark.com today!

This project is a #NatureForAll collaboration between the Sound and Light Ecology Team at Colorado State University, United States National Park Service, Parks Canada, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, and George Wright Society. The #NatureForAll movement helps bring organizations together to inspire love of nature, with the understanding that the more people experience nature, the more they will strive to conserve it.

Popular tracks by Sounds of Your Park