Whose ribbit is that? I found 'that' a question which frequently comes to mind when listening to the chirps, ribbits, boinks, jingles, peeps, trills and croaks calling from a pond, wetland or even your backyard at night.
Why Are Frogs & Toads So Valuable To Our Ecosystem
These peeps, chirps and ribbits are vital to the health of the wetlands, ponds/lakes, marshes, vernal ponds. But the larger picture is the direct relation of the health of frogs and toads to the health of the ecosystem and stormwater management in this area.
Frogs and toads are indicator species. Sensitive to changes in the environment, the health of these species are indicators of the health of our ecosystem. That's the thumbnail! But oh so much more goes into why It Is Not Easy Being Green.
Froggy Voice is an app designed to help you distinguish the calls of each species specifically for the species in the River Rouge Watershed and the annual Frog & Toad Survey. I learned about this app at the Frog & Toad Survey Workshops by the Friends Of The Rouge to train volunteers to participate in their annual Frog & Toad Survey.
This hyper local app is a practical and purposeful tool for the surveyors as well as an educational tool for anyone interested in learning how to distinguish the calls of frogs and toads and appreciate their contribution to a healthy ecosystem.
Practical App
For novice surveyors Froggy Voice helps accentuate the training to assist new surveyors of the nuances of the calls of each species. The app contains 12 frog calls and 2 toad calls with the caveat this app is specifically designed for species found in the River Rouge Watershed.
For experienced surveyors the app is a helpful reminder of the calls of the frogs and toads found in the watershed. The annual frog and toad survey season is short and occurs March through June in my area.
Multicaller Function
For both the novice and experienced surveyors the Multicaller function is extremely helpful to distinguish the 'who is who' when hearing frog calls from different species simultaneously.
A virtual mix and match of frog sounds can be accomplished in a click of the mouse. The user simply clicks the icons of the desired frog species to hear the combination of frog calls. An invaluable feature for on site surveying when you hear multiple frog calls to ensure accuracy for your survey.
Responsiveness
Froggy Voice is a responsive app which can be accessed via desktop or mobile. I have used the app on desktop, iOS mobile and android devices and found the app performs equally across all platforms.
Last weekend my survey partner and I headed out to our survey area and as novices loved the ability to have the mobile version of the app on our phones. So easy, so convenient and so helpful!
If interested in learning more about how frogs and toads directly relate to the health of your environment, your neighborhood, and your wetlands additional resources are below.
Resources
Frog & Toad Surveying, Friends of The Rouge (FOTR)
Rouge River Watershed Amphibian Assessment, Rouge River Advisory Council,
Froggy Voice by Bingle
Rouge River National Wet Weather Demonstration Project, Alliance of the Rouge Communities
2020 Frog & Survey Results, FOTR
How fascinating. I take it you are participating in your area's watershed amphibian assessment, Tracey. I clicked on your Froggy Voice link above and listened to all the different frog sounds. Brought back strong memories of childhood summer evenings sitting on the porch listening to the frogs in the pond in our backyard. I had no idea that frogs were indicators of a healthy ecosystem. Very interesting article.
ReplyDeleteLove your memories of summer evening! Yes, we used the app again last night for the survey :)
DeleteOh, how very cool! I listened to every one of the chirps. I don't believe I have heard a few of them before and 2 or 3 would not have been discernible to me as frogs outdoors. I would have mistaken them as insects. Very, very cool just to hear.
ReplyDeleteWe found the difference in their calls very interesting too!
DeleteOh wow! How interesting! Just shows there is an ap for everythig.
ReplyDeleteRight! Love an app that delivers as promised!
DeleteWhat an intriguing app! I've always admired my husband's ability to distinguish different birdsongs. (I grew up in Manhattan, surrounded by skyscrapers, whereas he spent his summers in the Maine woods with parents who educated him and his brother about the wildlife that surrounded them). I'll bet he'd love this app! Looking forward to sharing it with him. His parents volunteer for the annual Loon Count at their Maine lakeside cottage and are very active in helping to keep their lake clean and healthy. I'm sure my husband will be interested in learning about your Frog & Toad survey.
ReplyDeleteWe could use your husband's help with all the bird calls we are also hearing during the frog survey! The loon count must be very interesting and vital to their lake.
DeleteWow how interesting! I had not heard of this app and it sounds wonderful! There are certainly a wide range of calls! Although I love frogs and toads I have to admit I do not know them by their calls at all. We do get some frog visitors to our garden but I think I would need to travel to the wetlands near us to see or hear many. Thank you for a very interesting review!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jasmine on this one. I have never heard of it before right now. I missed this earlier this week. While I live in a very urban area, and we don't get a lot of frogs or toads in the immediate area, this could be a lot of fun at the cottage! Thanks for a great review on something I had never heard of before!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cool App! The educational side is very interesting indeed. Our step grands need to learn about this app. I'll be mentioning it to them the next time (soon we hope) that we see them. They have a book that makes the sounds of every bird - pre-covid they were over, in the backyard, and the book was making bird calls, and the birds in our trees were responding with their own chirps. It was hilarious. If they get this app and frogs respond, well that would shock us!
ReplyDelete