Coquí Frogs in Los Angeles County

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The Loudest Frogs Around
Introduced coqui frogs are L.A.’s noisiest new neighbors

Recently, biologists and volunteers from NHMLA visited a nursery in Torrance, Calif., positively riddled with coqui frogs. Headed by Herpetology Curator Greg Pauly, the team collected as many coqui frogs as possible over the course of three hours. As a scientist interested in urban nature, Pauly wants to better understand these frogs and how they’re fitting into the ecology of Los Angeles, which is no stranger to introduced species. By collecting frogs, Pauly and his collaborators can learn more about them. What are they eating? How quickly are they reproducing? Are they transporting pathogens like the chytrid fungus that could impact our native frogs?

There are still a lot of questions to answer about these introduced frogs, but the question no one needs to ask is, “Can you hear that?”

Have you heard a coqui frog in Southern California? They do show up at private residences, usually transported on nursery plants used in landscaping projects. Sometimes people think these are a crazy bird calling all night long. If you think you have heard or seen a coqui frog, please send a recording of the call or photo of the frog to Greg Pauly at rascals@nhm.org.