Why Do Coyotes Howl and Yip at Night? Coyote Sounds Explained

A very vocal animal

The coyote is often called the most vocal wild mammal in North America, and its scientific name, Canis latrans, means “barking dog.” Researchers have described at least 11 different adult calls, which fall into three broad groups:

What does a lone howl mean?

The long, wavering lone howl is the coyote’s classic call. It is usually given by an animal separated from its group, and it seems to say “here I am.” Family members often answer, letting the group locate each other across a large territory.

Lone howls may also help transient coyotes, which do not belong to a territory, to find out which areas are already taken. Each coyote’s voice has individual features, so neighbors can probably tell residents from strangers.

Why coyotes yip together

The frenzied burst of yips, barks and howls that people often hear at night is called a group yip-howl. It usually starts when family members come together after being apart, and it works as a noisy greeting ceremony. It also broadcasts to neighboring groups that the territory is defended.

Group howls are sometimes triggered by another group’s chorus, so that calls spread from family to family across a valley. These choruses are short, often lasting less than a minute, and then the night goes quiet again.

Why two coyotes sound like ten

Many people who hear a coyote chorus guess there must be a dozen or more animals. Usually there are far fewer, often just two to four. Coyotes rapidly change pitch and break their calls into yips and warbles, and the sound bounces off hills, buildings and trees.

Biologists sometimes call this the “beau geste” effect, a term first used for songbirds whose varied songs may make one bird sound like several. Whether coyotes do it on purpose is still debated, but the result is a chorus that sounds much larger than the group really is.

Barks, huffs and warnings

Not every coyote sound is about contact. Short woofs and barks are warnings, often given near a den when a person, dog or other predator approaches; pups dive into the den when they hear them. Bark-howls, a series of barks rising into a howl, are a stronger alarm and can go on for minutes.

Huffs and growls are close-range threats, and high whines and yelps are part of greeting and submission within a family. Pups begin making sounds within their first weeks and join group howls by late summer.

Why do coyotes howl at sirens?

Coyotes often respond to fire engines, ambulances and police sirens, especially in suburbs. A siren has a rising and falling pitch somewhat similar to a howl, and coyotes may answer it as they would another group’s call. There is no evidence that sirens hurt their ears or distress them.

They may also answer train horns, dogs and people imitating howls. The same habit has long been used by biologists, who play recorded howls to count coyotes by their replies.

When do coyotes howl the most?

Coyotes call at any hour, but most choruses come at dusk, during the night and just before dawn, the times when family members spread out to hunt and then regroup. Calm, clear nights carry sound farther, so howls are heard more on such nights. Wind, rain and traffic noise make calls harder to hear.

The season matters too. Calling often rises in winter, when pairs bond, breed and defend their territories against transients. Families are noisy again in late summer and fall, when the pups have grown enough to join in with their own high, squeaky yips.

Myths about coyote howls

Myth: yipping means coyotes have made a kill. Coyotes usually eat quietly. The excited group yip-howl is a greeting and a territorial signal.

Myth: coyotes howl to lure pets. Howling is aimed at other coyotes. It is not a hunting trick.

Myth: coyotes howl at the moon. They lift their heads to project the sound, whatever the moon is doing.

Coyote calls compared with wolves

Coyote calls are higher, faster and more varied than wolf howls, with lots of short yips and sudden pitch changes. A wolf’s howl is deeper, smoother and usually longer. To learn more about their larger relatives, see why do wolves howl? and the wolf vs coyote comparison.