Birdsounds; H&N, Sat 20/10/18, 10:00pm

[Richard Barrett]

I seem to remember reading that frogs have different 'accents'

They all have French accents don't they?

Don't worry I was on my way out anyway.

[oddoneout]

They all have French accents don't they?

Don't worry I was on my way out anyway.

No, only the ones that don't have a leg to stand on.

[Quarky]

I seem to remember reading that frogs have different 'accents', even within the same species, depending on where the population is.

A newcomer to the Frog issue, but apparently the North American Bull Frog and the Australian Quacking frog are of particular interest. This is a fascinating article showing how the frog deals with the Cocktail Party issue: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338885/

The frog’s cocktail party problem
Anurans are notable for the loud vocalizations males produce to attract females and to defend calling sites against rival males [13, 14]. Frog vocalizations commonly reach peak sound pressure levels (SPLs) of 90 dB to 110 dB (re 20 μPa; measured at 1 m) [15]. In many species, communication takes place in large breeding choruses comprising hundreds of males, usually of multiple species, gathered at a suitable breeding site (e.g., a pond). Ambient chorus noise is intense [16], and has been reported audible to humans up to distances of 2 km from a breeding pond [17]. High noise levels and temporally overlapping calls within a chorus interfere with the ability of receivers to detect, recognize, and discriminate among male vocalizations [18]. Nevertheless, female frogs choose mates of their own species based on the spectrotemporal properties of his calls and can exercise more selective choices of particular conspecific males producing calls with certain properties [13, 14]. Male frogs can assess the proximity, size, fighting ability, and even individual identity of other calling males in a chorus environment [13, 14]. These behaviors indicate frogs perceive calling males as distinct sound sources in noisy chorus environments. Research is beginning to uncover how frogs hear individual sound sources under these real-world listening conditions [18, 19].