Just wandering.......why do coyotes start to howl? Is it dominance? Is it "marking their territory"? Anything else?

coyotes have a very social life with each other,each howl means something.The long drawn out howl is an interrogation howl,asking is there any other members of my pack around and where are you.There are many other howls I dont have the space to explain them all.The lonesome howl,the female invitation howl,pup yips and howls,challenge howls,and many more.These are some of the ones you will here.At dark here in the east you sometimes here a pack of coyotes howling,and it sounds like twenty of them but it's usually much less this is what I use on my e-caller to locate where a pack is hanging out at so I can get the right wind and sneak in close enough to call to them.Coyotes are very territorial most of the year and do not tolerate other coyotes in their territory,this is why sometimes when you howl to call to them they answer back with a quicker more excited howl this is the challenge howl,you can sometimes give it right back to them and they get real excited,it's kinda like two people talking crap in an argument or before a fight,sometimes the coyote will come to whip butt.They yip in packs sometimes at night when they have killed something or found something to eat.they howl for many reasons you should study up on it and when you hear them howl you will know some of what they are saying,all these understandings of their language is from studies by a human,only the coyote knows the real meanings of his howls Hope this answers your question!

Thanks for your answer. That explains a lot. I hunt for deer and this evening while climbing down from my tree stand, a coyote started howling less than 100 yards from my tree. it israther scary to walk in the direction of the howl to get to your car.Are coyotes afraid of light (like from a flash light)?

Trust me the chances of being attacked are slim,and I have had them howl near me years ago before I started hunting them and it's enough to send a shiver down your spine.Of the 11 years that I have hunted coyotes,I have had only one growl at me and I was bow hunting when I saw him and called him into range and missed him with my first shot and started lip squeaking to stop him and he looked up at me as I was knocking another arrow in my bow and growled and barked,just before that magnus stinger sent him to doggie heaven,my only coyote with a recurve bow and the only one that ever showed any aggressive behavior,and I beleive that was because he didn't know what I was perched up in that tree.I have had them within ten feet of me on the ground when they rush the call and have never had them do anything but give me a very bad look before the loud boom.I have thought that they were going to run into me when they do their death spin after they have been lung shot .And yes to your question about the light.Any un-natural light will spook game of all sorts including deer especially a mature animal.I walk in,in the dark and leave the same way, so not to spook animals that I cant see.And if that coyote was a howling and a yipping and wouldn't shut up,that was an alarm howl they will do this sometimes if they see you,but most of the time if they see or smell you,you will never know it, they will just slip away undetected.Good hunting and dont let them bother you,the deer usually wont even leave a field when a coyote is in it,if he dont get to close to them.