We asked, you recorded Australia's amazing animal sounds

Updated

Here in Australia, we're blessed with some of the most beautiful and unusual animals in the world — and their calls, croaks and cackles can be just as striking.

This year, we asked you to get your recording devices out and send us the sounds of your backyards, workplaces and playgrounds.

If it was lyrical, pretty, unusual — or just plain weird — we wanted to hear it.

And we've since been swamped with musical murmurings from the natural world.

Off Track is still on the lookout for sounds. So next time you're kicking back under the stars, or on your veranda enjoying the natural sounds of your surrounds, whip out your phone and hit record.

But first, here are some of the best sounds snippets we've heard so far — from Australia and beyond.

Tasmanian devils

The delightfully relaxing sound of a very grumpy Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) came via listener David Hamilton.

He's a behavioural ecologist in Tasmania, and he recorded the screeches at Arthur River in Tasmania while doing field research.

As part of his PhD, David is studying the social networks of Tasmanian devils, and hoping to learn more about the devastating facial tumour disease that has pushed the already vulnerable devils towards extinction.



Pobblebonk frogs

There's nothing quite like the sound of a pobblebonk frog (Limnodynastes dumerilii), with its distinctive 'plonk-like' call that gives the amphibian its logical name.

Also known as a banjo frog, there are five subspecies across eastern Australia with different skin colouration. These include the eastern banjo frog, snowy banjo frog and the southern banjo frog.

Despite their big sound, pobblebonks are only around eight centimetres long. They also have a long tadpole stage of around 15 months.

Bruce McLaren recorded this chorus of pobblebonks in Ravenhall, Victoria.

Pied butcherbirds

When Jim and Karol Horton first recorded this bird in their Gold Coast backyard, they weren't sure what species it was.

In fact, they had nicknamed the bird the 'missing you' bird because its call that sounded like someone expressing their longing.

But thanks to the Off Track brains-trust, this mournful bird has been identified as a pied butcherbird, a medium-sized black and white bird that can be found throughout most of Australia.

The birds of Parliament House

When you think of Parliament House in the ACT, chances are you don't immediately think about ravens and currawongs.

Kate Loynes recorded the sounds of the birds during her lunch break in the nation's capital.

She said the currawongs and ravens were too busy chasing bogong moths and bickering amongst each other to notice her capturing their sounds with her smartphone.

Spiny babblers

This sound of a spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis) came all the way from Nepal, the only place in the world where it is found.

Recorded by Sonam Lama while he was in Nepal studying red pandas, the spiny babbler is a medium-sized brown bird with a narrow streak of pale on the underside.

Living in flocks of around five to seven members, the spiny babbler is an accomplished singer, with the ability to mimic other birds among its own squawks and clucks.

Despite being such a lyrical singer, the spiny babbler remains almost silent over the winter months.

Feeding bats

You've probably never heard bats because their sounds occur at a frequency far too high pitched for human ears.

Luckily Harry Saddler had a little extra help to record the sound of these feeding bats in Acton, ACT.

He used an ultrasonic recording device — which effectively 'transposed' the bat sounds down into a lower pitch — that he then recorded onto his phone.

East Kimberley frogs

Sometimes the sound of nature is a gentle, relaxing hum. And sometimes it's a riotous cacophony that is almost as loud as a jet plane taking off!

Peter Tuft recorded these noisy frogs at the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in East Kimberley, Western Australia.

There are a few different frogs singing, so it's difficult to pick them out from the din.

However these noisy frogs aren't inconsiderate neighbours.

Peter said they eventually turned down the volume sometime after midnight.

Off Track is still on the lookout for amazing animal sounds — email yours to offtrack@abc.net.au

Topics: animal-science, animals, environment, australia

First posted