The first few tracks
of The Diversity of Animal Sounds take me from
the enthusiastic song of a male satin bowerbird in Australia to the
deep-toned, primordial growls of the American alligator to the
unabashed mating grunts of a jaguar. I am amused, and then
deliciously frightened, and finally, slightly embarrassed – I keep
the volume down on the jaguar track.
Produced by
the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology from its Macaulay Library of
Natural Sounds, this new CD comes with a 28-page guide to such
sounds as the bugling of elk, the abdomen-thrumming of insects, the
pant-hoots of chimpanzees, and the ghostly wailing of loons. The
booklet also explains how animal anatomy, habitat and species
dispersion affect communication.
Without a single
human voice to break the cacophony, this collection of 62 animal
sounds captures the enchanting lure of a natural world all too few
of us get to experience.
The CD is available
online at www.birdscornell.edu, or call Wild Birds Unlimited at
877/266-4928, or the American Birding Association at
800/634-7736.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Audible biodiversity.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
