Sounds of Rana boylii - Foothill Yellow-legged Frog

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Adult male in underwater calling position

Frogs in breeding pool
(with underwater microphone)

Paired vocal sacs

Breeding area

More pictures and information:

Page 1: Frogs and Habitat

Page 2: Eggs and Tadpoles

Oregon frogs and habitats

Watch short movies and hear
more sounds of this frog at
Endangered Species International
(www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org)

Advertisement Calls An advertisement call is the most well-known call of a frog. It is produced by a male frog in order to attract females during the breeding season and to warn other rival males of his presence. Frogs usually make the calls around bodies of water that are suitable for breeding and egg laying. These calls can be heard during the evening and at night, and sometimes during daylight at the peak of the breeding season.
The calls of Rana boylii are rarely heard. Calls are made at night and during the day from the air and underwater, but the paired vocal sacs (shown below left) are very small and do not produce much volume. The sound of running water from the rivers and streams where this frog breeds also help to cover up the calls. The main call can be described as a faint one-note low-pitched, raspy series of 4 - 6 notes per second. Grunts and oinks may also be heard, along with rattling. "R. boylii has a well-developed vocabulary of several call types. Such calling is normally associated with species in which males defend territories vocally, and often by physical combat if vocal threats fail. In such species, males do not usually actively search for and clasp females, but rather wait until the female has contacted them before attempting amplexus." However, this may not adequately described R. boylii as males have been observed initiating amplexus when females are very close. *
With the assistance of Chris Rombough, the following calls were recorded with an underwater microphone on June 26th from about 10:00 PM to midnight in the quiet waters at the edge of a river (shown below left) in Linn County, Oregon. Air temperature was 78 degrees, water temperature 65 degrees. Several male frogs were gathered in a small pool near some recently-deposited egg masses. Other frogs were situated in nearby pools and their calls could be heard faintly. None of these underwater calls could be heard from the air.

This is a 5 second edit of three short underwater calls from one frog (with long pauses inbetween edited out.)		This is an 18 second composite of some of the various underwater sounds made by several frogs, taken from various recordings.

This is a 40 second recording of underwater sounds made by a group of frogs.		This is a 59 second recording of underwater sounds made by a group of frogs.
The following calls were recorded with an underwater microphone on the morning of June 27th in the same location as the above recordings. Air temperature was 78 degrees, water temperature 66 degrees. Three male frogs were gathered in the same small pool where the above night recordings were made. Again, none of these underwater calls could be heard from the air. Occasionally a frog would surface and produce a very faint call in the air once or twice before remaining silent for several minutes, then returning underwater. Unfortunately, these air calls were not recorded and cannot be heard here.
		Listen to Rana boyliis In-air call at Amphibiaweb
This is a 21 second recording of underwater sounds made by two frogs.
Release Calls A release call is produced by a male frog or an unreceptive female frog when a male frog or other animal gets on its back and grabs its sides in the position used for mating or amplexus. It's a frog's way of saying "Get off my back! Let go!"

This is a 2 second recording of two short release calls of a male frog as it was grabbed across the back. It was recorded in the air. Flowing water can be heard in the background.
You can listen to more sounds of Foothill Yellow-legged Frogs on Amphibiaweb, and on this cd: Carlos Davidson - Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
* Laine MacTague and Philip T. Northern - Underwater Vocalization by the Foothill yellow-legged Frog (Rana boylii) 1993. Transactions of the Western Section of the Wildlife Society 29:1-7.