Voice of the Wild

Eastern Gray Treefrog (Dryophytes versicolor). 

The frog that sounds like a woodpecker. 

Do you want to learn more bird songs, frog calls, and insect noises? Join Voice of the Wild every Friday to explore a new wild voice. We’re available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. 
 
The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode: 
  • Red-bellied woodpecker call by Geoffrey A. Keller (ML507296)
The following USGS recordings were used in this episode: 
  • Eastern gray treefrog call by U.S. Geological Survey
  • Cope's gray treefrog call by U.S. Geological Survey
Sources and more: 

What is Voice of the Wild?

If you learn to listen for them, you will find wildlife everywhere. Voice of the Wild is a podcast about wildlife and the wild sounds they make. Tune in every Friday to learn a new bird song, frog call, or insect noise.

This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”

This frogs variable coloring and lichenlike pattern gives them good camouflage in the forest or swamp edges they prefer - though they’re also no stranger to human environments. I’ve found more than one lurking under the cover of an unused grill…probably biding their time waiting for night to fall and the porchlight to attract insect meals en mass. This is the Eastern Gray Treefrog

The gray treefrog’s call is said to sound like a red-bellied woodpecker, but if the call sounds unusually fast; like this - you may have a cope’s gray treefrog, which is a visually identical but audibly and genetically distinct species. Here’s the eastern gray treefrog again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW