The Frogs That Chirp

What is that chirping sound? A bird? A bug? No! It's Chirping Frog!

For years, I would hear a chirping sound at night, mostly in the summer. It came from the back porch, to the side. I couldn't make it out—a bird? But that wouldn't make sense, a bird that chirped through the night? Birds love the sun, except owls and a few others. Maybe an insect...

[Picture: Rio Grande Chirping Frog]

This went on and on, just becoming part of the summer background sounds, nothing to be concerned about. Until one day, I was watching the porch with the light on and I saw it. A tiny frog! I would never have guessed. It was only about a half inch long. Once I knew what it was, I could hear a slight croaking sound in there that indicated an amphibian, not a bird.

The ones in my backyard are Rio Grande Chirping Frogs. They have moved up from South Texas, hitchhiking in nursery plant pots. There are native chirping frogs in Central Texas called Cliff Chirpers. Those gravitate toward limestone bluffs, whereas the Rio Grande chirpers love suburban yards. There's really not much competition between them.

These little guys bypass water, laying their eggs in dirt. (Makes it easy to hitchhike.) There's no tadpole phase; the frogs emerge as pinhead-sized froglets. The males chirp for a mate, to establish territory or in response to threat. This froggy was so persistent, I figure he was looking for a mate without much success, year after year. Or maybe he just wanted as many clutches of eggs as possible.

They are very shy little creatures. I've only seen one twice. One year, a chirper got under the doorframe somehow and boomed through the back of the house. They love spots that amplify their calls. I kept checking, but no, it wasn't in the house, it was outside. Kind of a relief when that was over.

With the global population of frogs under threat, it's good to know that these tiny frogs are holding their own. Even if they do sound like birds.