Frog Call Cheat Sheet

If you are new to identifying frog calls then our workflows may be quite overwhelming. Please do not be discouraged. Below we have listed a few handy hints and tips as well as examples to help you more easily identify target species calls. There is a short quiz at the end of each cheat sheet to test your new knowledge.

The best trick to remembering these calls is trying them out yourself. Have fun and see how well you can immitate their calls

Target Species

Northern Heath frog - Litoria littlejohni

• Northern Heath frogs are a target species in our Blue Mountains workflows
• Their calls are typically a series of low pitched 'greeeeeep greeeeeep greeeeeeep'
• Calling tends to last about 10 seconds, they will momentarily pause before starting again
• Each new 'greeeeeeep' is generally longer and louder than the preceding one.
• Males often call in small groups of about 4/5 individuals, so you may hear the call at different volumes.

On particularly busy nights, it may be hard to distinguish L. littlejohni calls from all the noise. Below are examples of L. littlejohni calls among other calling frog species. See if you can pick out their calls from the group!

L. littlejohni with a calling Common Eastern toadlet, Crinia signifera

L. littlejohni with a calling Whistling Tree frog, Litoria verreauxi

L. littlejohni with a mess of other call frogs

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Giant Burrowing frog - Heleioporus australiacus

• Giant Burrowing frogs are a target species in our Blue Mountains workflows
• Calls are typically low pitched "hooop-ooop-ooop-ooop" repeated every few seconds
• They're also known as the Eastern Owl frog thanks to their owl like call
• Calling males will often call under vegetation and/or rocks, or from their burrows. For this reason their calls can be quite difficult to hear.

Because Giant Burrowing frogs call from such sheltered places their calls often fade to the back of the chorus. Below are examples of H. australiacus calls among other calling frog species. See if you can pick out their calls from the group!

H. australiacus with a calling Common Eastern toadlet, Crinia signifera

H. australiacus with a mess of other frog calls.

There are a total of four calls in this audio, see if you can hear them all!