Motorbike Frogs

[Nero Egernia]

It was a nice warm night and the Motorbike Frogs (Litoria moorei) were out in force. There was quite a lot of variation in colour and pattern. You have individuals that are a mix of green, brown and bronze, then on one end you have individuals that are predominantly green, and the other, predominantly bronze. Some have dark green markings, others apple green, and some lime green. I wasn't able to take photos of them all - there were too many and some were very skittish. I also saw a little Western Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dorsalis) but didn't manage to get a photo.











Lastly, this little frog only had one eye. Life in the wild is not always kind.

 

[Stompsy]

Wonderful pictures Oshkii! Thank you for sharing. Makes me want to keep frogs even more!

 

[alichamp]

Beautiful! Don't suppose you have any audio files to share?

 

[Nero Egernia]

Wonderful pictures Oshkii! Thank you for sharing. Makes me want to keep frogs even more!

No need for me to keep frogs on my part, got plenty of them in the garden. Some even eat from your hands. I had one big girl that was a bit enthusiastic and tried to eat my fingers as well. It was funny having a frog trying to gum you to death.

Beautiful! Don't suppose you have any audio files to share?

I don't even know how to record audio. Here's a video of one calling (not my video). They do sound a bit like a motorbike. If you're able to mimic their call they usually respond.

 

[alex.snaith]

Did a bit of digging around APS and the motorbike frog made me curious.

Did a bit of research...

It's described as
"The call has two components: a rising series of tones (similar to a motorbike changing gears, hence the common name), followed by a series of warbling growls. The call can only be heard within a few hundred metres."

Quite interesting if you ask me!

Thoughts?

 

[BrownHash]

The WA Museum's Frog Watch web page has a good recording of the Motorbikwe Frog's call.

http://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/frogwatch/frogs/motorbike-frog