Clicking Stream Frog

During the rainy season, Rooielsers fondly listen to the clicking of Gray’s Clicking Stream Frog. The males click throughout the day, but it is especially at night we hear them clearly, when there are no other sounds except the wind and the sea.

It is very difficult to find the call site, for the frog keeps quiet the moment one tries to sneak up with a camera. No matter how careful one is, that frog refrains from clicking where he hides under the plants or leaf litter near water.

The Clicking Stream Frog is found in the entire Fynbos Biome, as well as in parts of the Succulent Karoo, Nama Karoo, Savanna, Grassland, Thicket and Forest biomes. They breed in winter in the winter-rainfall region and in summer in the summer-rainfall region.

The breeding habitat includes pools, ponds and small dams and during winter we often see the tadpoles in ditches and in the arias where there is water seepage.

The female lays about 250 – 350 eggs, usually out of water. They are deposited in a single layer under leaves, on mud, in rock crevices or in moss. We photographed eggs on a water pipe and watched daily as the tadpoles developed. We could actually see them moving inside the egg capsule.

After about five days the tadpoles emerge and enter the water. There they feed on leaves and insects. It takes 3 – 6 months to develop and become frogs.

Click on Video (above photos) to see Stream frog tadpoles foraging.