Rana cascadae - Cascades Frog Sounds

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1. Calling adult male

2. Breeding habitat

3. Breeding habitat

More pictures and information:

California

Eggs and Tadpoles

Northwest

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 advertisement call of Rana cascadae is a faint series of low grating clucking noises. Calls are produced at night and also during the day from above and under water.
The following sounds were recorded on a sunny afternoon in early July at aprox. 5500 ft. in Pierce County Washington. Snow melt created a shallow pool under some trees next to a large lake and next to a small channel of water flowing into the lake. (see pictures 2 and 3 on the left.) One egg mass was visible at the edge of the pool, attached to submerged grass. Several male frogs were positioned at the edge of the pool near the egg mass, with their heads just out of the water and facing the shore. One frog called very faintly in the air at isolated intervals (see picture 1 on the left.) When an underwater microphone was placed in the water next to the frog, no sounds were heard. The sounds of running water, the occasional song of an Olive-sided Flycatcher and other birds, and insects can be heard in the background.

This is a 7 second edited recording of three short advertisement calls of one frog.		This is 21 seconds of the advertisement calls of one frog.

This is 43 seconds of the advertisement calls of one frog.		This is 9 seconds of chattering calls resulting from a close encounter of two male frogs.

This is 19 seconds of sounds that occured after the encounter of two male 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 very short recording of the release calls of an adult Cascades Frog recorded during daylight at a mountain lake in Washington. Birds can be heard in the background.
You can listen to more recordings of the Cascades Frog on this cd: Carlos Davidson - Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology