mating call

In all cases, the mating call produced by the male attracts females to the breeding site. It has been observed in the field and in the laboratory that the females can discriminate between mating calls of their own species and those of other species. At a communal breeding site,…

…to detect frogs by their mating calls. This has not gone unnoticed by the tungaras, and in fact bat predation has altered the male frog’s mating behaviour. Unless faced with competition from other male frogs, a tungara is reluctant to use a complex mating call, as it makes him easier…

…gather in traditional spots to call and display for females. In a plate-sized depression often at the crest of a rocky knoll, the male inflates his chest like a bloated bullfrog, heaves his thorax, bobs his head, and releases a resonant boom like the sound made by blowing across the…

… for a minute or more; calls up to five minutes in length have been recorded, giving the call its name. Females virtually never give the full sequence of the long call, as it serves to space males and attract sexually receptive females. Otherwise, orangutans are generally silent. Subadult males lack…

…important to owls, especially in mating and territorial defense. Camouflage, daytime immobility, and silent flight may combine to make it as difficult for owls to see each other as it is for natural enemies and human observers to see them. Usual owl sounds include snaps of the bill, claps of…