A Summer Mystery

Leah Justice, 2021

The sun was just setting, and I was going out for an evening walk in the neighborhood.  But wait, what was that unusual noise I heard emanating from the bushes?  It was a strange chirping, twittering sound. 

(Editors Note – Click HERE to Listen to Leah’s Mystery sound on her inaturalist page.
This audio file type cannot be uploaded to our site.)

I walked over to where the sound was coming from, and it immediately stopped.  Could it be some type of bird, bat, or insect?  I had no idea.  Of course, it was too dark to see anything in those bushes.  As I walked my route around the neighborhood the next couple of weeks, I would hear the sound coming from bushes in different yards.  The creatures seemed to be speaking to one another.  I was determined to record this sound and put it on iNaturalist. Surely someone would be able to tell what it was.  In June, I finally got a decent recording standing in the dark by the bushes.  I immediately loaded it up and eagerly waited for some knowledgeable person to help identify this mysterious noise.  I checked my observation often, only to find no identification.  By August, I had forgotten about it.  Just a few weeks ago, I was flipping through my observations and noticed that someone had identified the noise!  It’s a FROG and what an interesting frog it is!

The Rio Grande Chirping Frog, Eleutherodactylus campi, is also known as the Mexican chirping frog or lowland chirping frog.  This little creature (only a half inch long) is originally native to Mexico.  Scientists believe it has expanded its range in Texas by hitchhiking in the pots of tropical plants shipped out of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.  According to a Texas Parks and Wildlife article about the little herp, all chirping frogs share a unique characteristic of direct development of the young.  Instead of developing into tadpoles in water, the young frogs go through the larval development stage in the egg.  They emerge from the eggs as tiny froglets!  These frogs have adapted well to the irrigated landscapes and the warmth of concrete in cities.  There are only two other chirping frogs found in Texas. 

Listen for their high-pitched, insect-like chirps and trills at night when you are out.  We all might be hearing this curious noise in our area more often.  Mystery solved!

Sources:  Wikipedia, Eleutherodactylus cyctignathoides, INaturalist- Rio Grande Chirping Frog (Reptiles & Amphibians of the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center) · iNaturalist, TX Parks and Wildlife 2012 Wild Thing: Hitching Herp Wild Thing: Rio Grande Chirping Frog Hitchhikes Across State|April 2012| TPW magazine