USVI-On-Line

A Forum Member who is on island has mentioned hearing the tree frogs singing tonight. If you are missing the Virgin Islands or wondering what night sounds like there, this is for you.

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Thank you for this, lprof.

Music to my ears!

TM

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Saltydog wrote: for the folks that close up the windows and doors [at night] and kick up the air~conditioning they are truly missing out......
just saying.....part of the magic!

I agree! ... love that sound!

Cool!

Today is one of those days when I am truly homesick for the rock.I know it's not my home,but my heart longs for it...Thanks for the frogs. Parafins

Thank you for that reminder of such beautiful music we heard last trip!! We loved it & sure do miss it.

...buzzkill:

"Common Coquís are native to the islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra where they are widespread and abundant; the only notable exception occurring in Puerto Rican dry forests where the species is rarer. The species has been introduced to the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic,[5] Florida, and Hawaii,[6] where it has become a densely populated invasive pest."

Chet wrote:...buzzkill:

"Common Coquís are native to the islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra where they are widespread and abundant; the only notable exception occurring in Puerto Rican dry forests where the species is rarer. The species has been introduced to the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic,[5] Florida, and Hawaii,[6] where it has become a densely populated invasive pest."

--- All I know is that I have heard Coquis at night everywhere I have been on St John. Some of us identify the sound with the island experience.

A photo from Jost and comment from the Jost Van Dyke's Preservation Society FB page:
"Some say "Bigger Better" hmm. well we say "Small, special" like this little frog. we have 5 frog species on JVD. Some, like the V.I. Coqui (found only in the Virgin I.) are believed to be extinct on some of the larger islands. Tiny. Rare. Hmmm. kind of like Jost Van Dyke..."

The Virgin Islands coqui (Eleutherodactylus schwartzi) is on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
"Range Description: This species is now restricted to Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, having been extirpated from St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It has been recorded from sea level up to 227m asl.
Countries:
Native:
Virgin Islands, British
Regionally extinct:
Virgin Islands, U.S."

--- So... I do not know what species we hear on St John or other Virgin Islands or whether the frogs we hear are considered invasive pests... but some of us like hearing it.

Used for informational conservation purposes only from: http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/search

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I have this CD on my iPod and I sometimes play it at night when I'm going to sleep. Since it's on a playlist of its own, when the playlist ends, so do the frogs...and by then I'm asleep.

Caribbean Dawn
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/capambiance

Let's clarify a bit here. "Coqui" is the common name of a common small Puerto Rican frog. It is a Puerto Rican name. There are closely related species on other islands. St. John has two close native relatives. They do not make a "coqui" sound, but more of a steady chirping. The BVI have a close relative that is unique to those islands, that has always been called a "bo-peep", and it DOES sound like a coqui. This is now apparently being called a "coqui" because that's what tourists think it is.
Puerto Rican coquis have been accidently introduced to St. Thomas and St. John. This soundtrack, from St. Thomas, is a Puerto Rican coqui. On St. John, they arrived with the palms imported from Puerto Rico by the Westin, then called Virgin Grand.
They have been restricted to the Great Cruz Bay watershed, up to the top of Gift Hill, but now may be spreading slightly. We also have a horrible large Cuban Tree Frog that arrived circa 1990 with landscape plants that now keeps many of us awake all night.
Take home message: Coquis in Puerto Rico: Good
Coquis in BVI Very good, if they're actually bo-peeps.
Coquis in USVI: Bad, since they are probably displacing our natives.

I am still a bit confused about all these coqui species and sounds, but I am only an occasional tourist there, and it doesn't matter what I do or don't know.

The next time I am on St John I'll quietly listen to the night sounds. I won't wonder what the heck I am hearing, because I really won't care to know too many details... to me they will simply be the sounds of the night frogs.


hugo, thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge of St John.