A Guide to California's
Reptiles and Amphibians

Sounds of
Rio Grande Leopard Frog - Lithobates berlandieri

Baird, 1854

(= Rana berlandieri)

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Calling Male

Rio Grande Leopard Frog

Adult

Male frogs and toads sometimes make a variety of sounds. These calls can have different functions.

Advertisement Calls

The advertisement call is the most well-known call of a frog or toad. It is made by a male during the breeding season to establish his territory and repel rival males and to attract females as potential mates. Males usually make the call in or near bodies of water near areas that are attractive to a female as a good place to lay her eggs. Advertisement calls can be heard during the evening and at night, and often during daylight at the peak of the breeding season. Sometimes an advertisement call will be heard outside of the breeding season and away from water. The reason for this is not understood.

Each species has its own unique advertisement call. This is necessary to differentiate them when there is more than one species calling. The evolution of this specific male advertisement call and its recognition by females is considered to be an important isolating mechanism in the evolution of a species.

The advertisement call of the Rio Grande Leopard Frog is a loud, short, low-pitched trill or rattle, lasting less than a second, given singly or in rapid sequences of 2 - 3 trills, made at night. Chuckling sounds are also heard along with the trills. These sounds are probably associated with territorial behavior similar to encounter calls.

The following advertisement calls were recorded at night at an irrigation canal in Imerial County (shown below right.)

This is a 4 second recording of the sounds of one male frog.

This is a 36 second recording of the sounds of one male frog.

This is a 58 second recording of the sounds of a group of male frogs. Bullfrogs can be heard in the background.

The following calls were recorded at night at the Colorado River in Imperial County (shown below right.) Several frogs were calling from the edges of the river. The sounds of a small dam and flowing water are heard in the background.

This is a 7 second recording of a male frog's advertisement calls with another frog heard in the distance.

This is a 17 second recording of the sounds of one male frog with another in the background.

This is a 7 second recording of the sounds of one male frog.

Waveform and Sonogram

This is a recording of the advertisement calls of a Rio Grande Leopard Frog recorded at night in Imperial County. The image above is a visual representation of this call. Click on it to see a larger image. Click here for information about how to read the waveform and sonogram images.

Short Videos


A male Rio Grande Leopard Frog calls at night from the edge of an agricultural canal in Imperial County, using his throat sack as well as pouches on the side of the neck to produce a variety of sounds. Another leopard frog joins in and they are both accompanied by an American Bullfrog.	A male Rio Grande Leopard Frog calls at night in Imperial County, accompanied by insects.	A male Rio Grande Leopard Frog calls at night from the edge of an agricultural canal in Imperial County, using his repertoire of grunts and chuckles, then he is accompanied by another leopard frog and several American Bullfrogs.

You can listen to more recordings of Rio Grande Leopard Frogs on this cd:

Carlos Davidson - Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast

and on the cd that comes with this book:

Lang Elliott, Carl Gerhardt, and Carlos Davidson - The Frogs and Toads of North America - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

You can also hear it at AmphiaWeb.

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Sounds of Rio Grande Leopard Frog - Lithobates berlandieri

Sounds of
Rio Grande Leopard Frog - Lithobates berlandieri