Grasslands Collection

THE SOUNDS OF THE PRAIRIE

About our collection.

To the east of Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front lies the High Plains Ecosystem. This area includes some of the world’s largest remaining stretches of intact grasslands. Thousands of migratory birds flock here and their calls at first light create the prairie’s distinctive dawn chorus. Where they exist, such tallgrass prairies are rich in wildlife, but only 1% of these grasslands are still found in the United States (link to: https://www.nps.gov/tapr/learn/nature/a-complex-prairie-ecosystem.htm), making them among the most endangered ecosystems in the world. In 2017, the Acoustic Atlas began documenting the sounds of Montana's prairies through a collaboration with the American Prairie Reserve. Each spring and summer we visit the Reserve to make recordings of species and soundscapes that we place in our online collection. You can search these recordings by species or simply browse the site. Explore the sounds of the prairie. [Link to the sounds] Related: Find out about the sounds of Montana’s four major ecosystems in a story map we co-created with ESRI Story Maps [link to: https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/2018/sounds-of-the-wild-west/]

  • Chukar

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Cinnamon Teal

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Clark's Grebe

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Clark's Nutcracker agitated calls

    Audio file copyright 2010, the Western Soundscape Archive at the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library. Use of this audio file is allowed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

  • Clark's Nutcracker at a distance at Yostemite National Park

    Audio file courtesy of the National Park Service.

  • Clark's Nutcracker close at Yostemite National Park

    Audio file courtesy of the National Park Service.

  • Clark's Nutcracker, Yellowstone National Park

    Audio file courtesy of the National Park Service.

  • Cliff Swallow flight

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Cliff Swallow nest

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Common (European) Starling

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Common (European) Starling

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Common Goldeneye

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Common Grackle, Wind Cave National Park

    Audio file courtesy of the National Park Service.

  • Common Loon call

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved

  • Common Loon yodel

    Audio file copyright 2014, Kevin Colver. All rights reserved