Spea hammondii - Western Spadefoot

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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 call of the Western Spadefoot is a short loud trill, like a quick snore, lasting less than one second. Males call at night while floating on the water, often in large aggregations.

This is a 1 second recording of the advertisement calls of a single male Western Spadefoot made at night from a shallow rain pool (shown over on the left) in Butte County, California.		This is a 22 second recording of the advertisement calls of several male Western Spadefoot made at night from shallow rain pools in Butte County, California on a very windy night. Pacific Treefrogs are also heard calling loudly in the foreground and wind and suburban sounds are heard in the background.

This is a 23 second recording of the advertisement calls of a male Western Spadefoot made at night from a shallow rain pool in Butte County, California on a very windy night. Pacific Treefrogs, wind, and suburban sounds are heard in the background.

You can listen to more recordings of Western Spadefoots on this cd: Carlos Davidson - Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology