What is a pobblebonk frog?
The pobblebonk, or eastern banjo frog, is a stout burrowing frog of southeastern Australia. It is named for its call, a single bonk that sounds like a plucked banjo string.
Pobblebonks grow to about seven or eight centimetres long. They are brown with darker patches, a yellow stripe along the side in some individuals and a large gland on the back of each leg.
They spend much of the year buried underground, emerging after rain to feed and breed. Their strong back legs are built for digging backwards into soil.
A chorus of bonks
When many males call together from a pond or dam, the overlapping bonks create a sound like a group of people playing banjos or plucking rubber bands. The name pobblebonk imitates this sound.
Females lay their eggs in a floating foam nest among vegetation in ponds, dams and flooded areas.
Pobblebonks are common in parks, farmland and suburbs from southeastern Queensland to Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, and they often turn up in garden ponds. Their tadpoles can grow large, taking many months to change into frogs.
Did You Know?
Pobblebonks are sometimes mistaken for cane toads, but they are harmless native frogs.