Sounds: wildlife recordings
"People protect what they love" - Jacques Cousteau.
Throughout this 24,000 kilometre sound expedition, we will be recording as wide a range of African wildlife sounds as we can, including birds, amphibians, mammals, bats and insects. We hope that, through publishing the sound recordings here and donating them to libraries like the British Sound Library, we might contribute a little to the global library of wildlife sound recordings, and maybe encourage a little more love for the wonders of our natural world (read more about why we're recording wildlife sounds).
Browse our wildlife sound recordings below, or listen to:
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audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on Sep 10th, 2009
There were thousands and thousands of crabs in the area around Mbodiene, Senegal – where we took our two week holiday from the bikes. Bex was sitting on a bank trying to record the sound of one crab digging and bubbling away in its hole when this one, a neighbouring crab, blithely popped its head out of its hole, noticed the huge, furry microphone and quickly dived back into safety again.
Date and time recorded: 12:54 local time, 30th August 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Podcast: Download (159.1KB)
Tags: africa, audio, crabs, field recordings, nature, senegal, sounds, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on Sep 10th, 2009
This is the first of several wildlife recordings we’ll be posting over the next few days from our two week stay with Alain and Alicia, at their camp (Le Thiossane, a wildlife paradise) next to a lagoon by Senegal’s Atlantic Coast. If you were near a cricket (or is it a cicada?) when it began chirruping, the noise was so loud it brought all conversation to a standstill.
Date and time recorded: 20:05 local time, 1st September 2009
Location: Near Mbodiene, Senegal (view on map)
Equipment: Audio-Technica AT897 via FEL MicBooster MB-1 to Fostex FR2LE
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Podcast: Download (2.3MB)
Tags: africa, audio, crickets, field recordings, insects, nature, senegal, sounds, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on Aug 13th, 2009
We’ve tentatively identified this toad as Bufo xeros, the Subdesert Toad. Our identification was visual and based on written descriptions of the toad’s call but, as always, we are happy to be corrected. These toads were numerous and very vocal through the night and in the early morning at Terjit Oasis in the Mauritanian Sahara.
Species: Bufo xeros
Common name: Subdesert Toad
Date and time recorded: 06:20 local time, 9th August 2009
Location: Terjit Oasis, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Podcast: Download (590.3KB)
Tags: africa, amietophrynus xeros, amphibians, bufo xeros, bufonidae, desert, mauritania, oasis, sahara, subdesert toad, terjit, toads, west africa
audio, soundscapes, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on Aug 1st, 2009
A large, mixed group of terns, recorded at the Cap Blanc peninsula reserve in northern Mauritania. The group was dominated by Caspian Terns, but included other terns which we weren’t able to conclusively identify; the Little, Sandwich, Royal and Gull-Billed Terns are all found in this area.
Species: Sterna caspia and other terns
Common name (English): Caspian Tern and other terns
Date and time recorded: 14:30 local time, 30th July 2009
Location: Cap Blanc, Mauritania (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
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Podcast: Download (883.6KB)
Tags: africa, birds, cap blanc, caspian tern, mauritania, nature, nouadhibou, soundscape, sterna caspia, terns, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on Jun 2nd, 2009
This has been our daily alarm call here in Agadir. This individual sits in the palm tree straight opposite our balcony and sings away until just after dawn, when other ambient noises increase. It only starts again in the evening, and then only briefly. We got a decent visual identification and we’re almost certain it’s a Common Bulbul; our slight doubts arise because this individual sounds quite different to the other Common Bulbuls we’ve heard here.
Species: Pycnonotus barbatus
Common name (English): Common Bulbul
Date and time recorded: 05:10 local time, 28th May 2009
Location: Apartment balcony, Agadir, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Podcast: Download (963.7KB)
Tags: agadir, audio, birds, common bulbul, morocco, north africa, pycnonotus barbatus, sound recordings, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on May 19th, 2009
For 36 hours, we stayed in a bungalow in Safi, northern Morocco. Just outside our door, from dawn to dusk, a group of peacocks called raucously, continuously. Every time we brought out the sound recorder, they shut up. Not a peep. We have hours of recordings of dogs barking in the distance, but this is the only decent sound recording we managed to get of the noisy tykes.
Date and time recorded: 08:30 local time, 16th May 2009
Location: Safi, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Podcast: Download (160.2KB)
Tags: audio, birds, morocco, north africa, pavo cristatus, peacocks, peafowl, safi, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on May 19th, 2009
Peafowl chicks cheeping. You should also be able to hear their mother in the background (she sounds a bit like a chicken), and the flapping of a peacock as he hops up onto a wall.
Date and time recorded: 17:00 local time, 15th May 2009
Location: Safi, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Podcast: Download (127.8KB)
Tags: audio, birds, chicks, morocco, north africa, pavo cristatus, peafowl, peahen, safi, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on May 8th, 2009
Again, recorded in the botanical gardens near Rabat, Morocco as we sat out the heat of the day and made our first wildlife recordings. We didn’t get a positive identification on the bird – anyone know? (Update: we have it on good authority that this is a nightingale – see comments.)
Recorded on: 13:20 local time, 4th May 2009
Location: Botanical gardens, near Rabat, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Podcast: Download (727.5KB)
Tags: audio, birdsong, luscinia, morocco, nightingale, rabat, wildlife
audio, wildlife posted by listentoafrica on May 8th, 2009
Sahara frog in the botanical gardens near Rabat, Morocco
A Sahara frog, recorded in the botanical gardens near Rabat, Morocco. It’s not the world’s best wildlife recording but it is our first, so we thought we’d post it. You’ll be able to tell we’re still getting to grips with our super sensitive shotgun microphone.
Species: Rana saharica riodeoroi
Common name (English): Sahara Frog
Date and time recorded: 13:00 local time, 4th May 2009
Location: Botanical gardens, near Rabat, Morocco (view on map)
Copyright: Listen to Africa
Podcast: Download (281.6KB)
Tags: amphibeans, audio, frogs, morocco, rabat, sahara frog, wildlife
Crab comes out of hole, sees microphone, dives back in again 
There were thousands and thousands of crabs in the area around Mbodiene, Senegal – where we took our two week holiday from the bikes. Bex was sitting on a bank trying to record the sound of one crab digging and bubbling away in its hole when this one, a neighbouring crab, blithely popped its head out of its hole, noticed the huge, furry microphone and quickly dived back into safety again. 
