Written by Jade Walton, Transforming Lives Trainee.
What is the difference between a frog’s croak and a toad’s croak? It would be easy to think that their croaks surely sound the same, or at least so similar that it would be very hard to tell the difference. This, however is not the case. Here is a quick guide to the calls of the common frog (Rana temporaria), the common toad (Bufo bufo), and the natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita).
Common frog
Relative to the call of the common toad, common frogs have a rather low-pitched croak. The sound is fairly smooth and repetitive. It is a comparatively soft call when compared to our native toad species.
Common toad
The common toad’s call is a much higher-pitched and stark sound than the common frog. Sounding like a rough ‘qwark-qwark-qwark’, its croak could easily be mistaken for the call of a duck or goose.
Natterjack toad
The natterjack toad has a distinctive call for multiple reasons. Their call is very raspy and higher in pitch than the common frog. The sound of their call carries for long distances, and can be heard from up to 2km away in the right conditions.
To hear the croaks of these species, as well as other amphibian species which may be found in the UK, download Froglife’s Dragon Finder app. Alongside recordings of croaks, the app can aid you in reptile and amphibian identification and allows you to report sightings of any reptiles and amphibians you may find in the wild.