Some sound like motorbikes and others are confused with distant barking dogs, hooting owls or even comedy fart noises.
This is the weird, disorientating and occasionally comical world of the calls of native Aussie frogs.
The Australian Museum’s citizen science project, Frog ID, allows the public to upload sounds they think are frogs and have them identified.
The project has just identified its one-millionth frog call – a Spalding’s rocket frog that sounds like someone trying to start a high-pitched lawnmower.
But Dr Jodi Rowley, the project’s chief scientist, says about one in every 20 submissions to Frog ID turn out not to be frogs at all.
Several birds and insects sound like frogs, and several frogs sound like birds and insects and other weird things.
“Most people, when they think of frog sounds, they think of a croak-croak or a ribbet-ribbet,” says Rowley.
“But there’s a lot of frogs that are rarely seen that people hear but can’t associate them with anything.”
Take our quiz that asks “Is that a frog, or not?” Grab some paper and pen and write “Frog” or “Not a frog” for each question. Hop to the bottom (sorry) for the answers. No cheating.
Questions
1. It sounds like a classic Australian back-yard bug sound – some sort of insect, a cicada or a cricket maybe? Or is it a frog?
2. Most frogs have a vocal sack they inflate to push air along their vocal cords. Is that what you’re hearing here? Is it a frog, or not?
3. Is that your takeaway arriving on a scooter or a distant motorbike revving in a driveway? Or is it a frog?
4. Most Frog ID submissions that turn out not to be frogs are identified as insects. But some frogs do sound like insects. So is this a frog, or not?
5. The late comic actor Leslie Nielsen was famous for peppering interviews he gave with noises from his pocket fart machine. Is this sound a comedy fart, or is it a frog?
6. Some frogs sound like cicadas. And some cicadas sound like frogs. And some birds sound like cicadas. Confused? Is this a frog or not?
7. Australia is home to several owl species, including the powerful owl with its woo-hoo noise. But is this the sound of an owl, or a frog?
8. If you live in Queensland and parts of the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia, you’ve probably heard this call. But is it a native frog, or not?
9. It could be a cricket, or maybe a duck or another waterbird. Or is it a frog?
10. Is it a bunch of frogs chirping away in the damp? Or a raft of ducks quacking to each other?
Answers
1. Frog. This is the common eastern froglet (Crinia signifera) and the most common frog sound submitted to Frog ID, but is easily confused with a cicada. Sound credit: Frog ID/Jodi Rowley.
2. Not a frog but the call of a tawny frogmouth bird which, a bit like frogs, can be devilish to spot even in broad daylight thanks to their camouflage. Sound credit: Mike FitzGerald.
3. Frog. That is the sound of Litoria moorei – also known as the motorbike frog, found in south-west Western Australia. Sound credit: Frog ID/Grant Webster.
4. Not a frog. This sound sent into Frog ID was tagged by Frog ID experts as an insect – likely a cricket. Sound credit: Frog ID.
5. Frog. The call of the southern sandhill frog (Arenophryne xiphorhyncha) was new to science when it was recorded in 2022. Some experts think it sounds like a squelchy fart. Sound credit: Frog ID/Sam Fischer.
6. Not a frog. This is the call of the male cicadabird, easily mistaken for either a frog or a cicada. Sound credit: Zebedee Muller.
7. Frog. The imaginatively titled hooting frog (Heleioporus barycragus) is another species only recorded in Frog ID from south-west WA. Sound credit: Frog ID/ Stephen and Michael Mahony.
8. Not a native frog but the call of a marauding invasive pest, the cane toad (Rhinella marina), that has been submitted 8,600 times to Frog ID, helping track its movements. Recent wet weather has been great for the toad. Sound credit: Frog ID/Paul Doughty.
9. Frog. This is the weird call of the robust whistling frog (Austrochaperina robusta), only recorded in a patch of the wet tropics region of Queensland, near Cairns. Sound credit: Frog ID/Braeden Middleton.
10. Frog. This is the quacking sound of several of the similarly imaginatively titled quacking frog (Crinia georgiana). Sound credit: Frog ID/Tracey Redwood.
