BehaviorRead full entry
A prolonged "wreek" or "creek" followed by zero to several "eeks" (Guyer and Donelly 2005, Ibanez et al 1999). Some species of frogs emit rain calls in the daytime during or before rain showers. The rain call of D. ebraccatus sounds like the short primary note of the mating call (Duellman 1970).
Behavior and communication
Dendropsophus ebraccatus has been described as a lek-breeding anuran (Wells 2007). Both calling perches and oviposition sites used by D. ebraccatus tend to be lower than those of a common heterospecific that also lays eggs terrestrially, Agalychnis callidryas (Donnelly and Guyer 1994). Calling by D. ebraccatus can be inhibited by calling of Dendropsophus microcephalus and Dendropsophus phlebodes (Schwartz and Wells 1983). Dendropsophus ebraccatus calling is also influenced by the calls of Scinax boulengeri due to the complete overlap in the two species' frequency ranges (Wells 2007). When multiple individuals or species are calling together at ponds, D. ebraccatus will synchronize the timing of their calls to minimize overlap (Schwartz and Wells 1984a). Dendropsophus ebraccatus also produces aggressive calls towards con- and heterospecifics (Schwartz and Wells 1985). Aggressive calls are graded in their intensity (Wells and Schwartz 1984a), and males respond more strongly to aggressive calls of increasing intensity (Wells 1989). Males lower their aggressive thresholds in response to aggressive calls, further contributing to high levels of aggressive calling observed in this species (Reichert Early Online). Calling is relatively energetically inexpensive for D. ebraccatus compared to other species with higher calling rates (Bevier 1995, 1997). Females do not necessarily prefer larger males (Morris 1991), although females do prefer calls of certain frequencies (Schwartz and Wells 1994a) as well as calls with higher pulse rates and more pulses (Wells 2007). However, large choruses and calls of heterospecifics interfere with a female's ability to assess male calls, and female preference for certain frequencies breaks down in the presence of background noise (Schwartz and Wells 1984a, Ehret & Gerhardt 1980, Gerhardt and Klump 1988a, Wollerman 1999, Wollerman and Wiley 2002a). Miyamoto and Cane (1980b) provide an excellent description of pair formation in D. ebraccatus, which has pectoral (i.e., axillary) amplexus. Silent males found near calling males will attempt to intercept females approaching calling males (Miyamoto and Cane 1980a).