Wind Is the Original Radio earth.fm

Dawn chorus from a rare pinsapo (Spanish fir) forest in the mountains of Andalucia. Starting softly at first light, the song of a Eurasian Robin is the first to herald the new day. As the day brightens the songs of many other species fill the air. In the background the soft tinkling of bells can be heard from goats on a distant hillside.



Recorded by Marc Anderson at Parque Nacional Sierra de las Nieves, Spain

Recoding by Seán Ronayne, in Zarnesti, Romania

A coveted silence drenches the deep valley. Winter at it’s finest. With closed eyes, I discern the
distant white noise of a creek flowing beneath the snow. Alongside one of the small lakes, a
coyote crosses the ice on the opposite shore, noticing my presence as well. As early dusk
descends, a small flock of Canadian geese flies overhead, their honking resonating against the
steep valley walls—a common sight during this season. The geese are nearing a lake that has a
unique nearly musical echo emanating from it. The chatter of trumpeter swans who have made
this pond home for the winter. Evening light fades and the swans move to various nearby water
sources that have not frozen, greeting each other with loud echoing calls. Moments of silence
are equally piercing in this winter valley.



Recorded by Nick McMahan in the Washington River

A classic quiet Savannah dawn chorus from this part of the world.



Recording by Sounding Wild at the Outamba-Kilimi National Park, Sierra Leone

Growing up in the mid-Atlantic states of the US and with roots and time lived in the Deep South, few sounds bring me to a state of transcendence like the orchestrated song of insects at night. The spectrally tight but densely-layered score of hundreds or thousands of insects pulsing, ratcheting, trilling, buzzing, and singing in concert is soothing my the ears and the best sleep-aid I can experience for myself.



There’s so much life in a chorus, and it’s not only insects. Frogs occasionally beep. Bats flutter by. The occasional leaf drops from the canopy. This is my happy place.



Recorded on the last night of a stay in a private lodge on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, near Parque Nacional Corcovado.



Recording by Andy Martin at the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Recently we visited a beautiful paradise in the Eastern Arc Forests of Tanzania—the Amani Nature Forest Reserve. This reserve protects the unique, biologically important sub-montane forest ecosystem of Tanzania’s East Usambara Mountains. Home to unique and endemic biodiversity, the reserve contains stunning flora, fauna, and trails to explore.  



Our guide suggested visiting the lesser-traveled Kiganga trail. True to his word, as soon as we left the small town adjacent to the forest, we were greeted by the quiet tranquility of the forest. The only sounds were the distant sound of Zigi River flowing through the forest and the high-pitched calls of cicadas in the canopy above. We stopped to listen for a while before choosing a tree to set up the recorder. At dusk, the loud cicadas gave way to the more nocturnal animals—crickets, bats, and hyraxes. The hyrax’s call occasionally rose above the crickets, echoing through the forest all night! 



Field recording by Martha Mutiso in Tanzania