The native animals of Puerto Rico are very dear in the hearts of the islanders. Specially the coquí, or tree frog. A very tiny tree frog actually. Coquíes have a high pitched sound and can be heard from far away. The coquíes begin to sing when the sun goes down at dusk. Their melody serenades islanders to sleep. Some people can’t fall asleep if they don’t hear them. Many Puerto Ricans who have moved to different part of the world carry a CD with Coqui songs recorded, just to fall asleep to it! Coquíes sing all night long until dawn when they stop singing and head for the nest.

During the time of the Taíno Indians trillions of coquíes serenated our ancestral home. Many Taíno Indian myths surround the coquí. Coquíes are found in much of the Taíno art like pictographs and pottery.

Puerto Rican coquíes have relatives all over Latin America. The coquí genre is found in all the Caribbean Islands, and in Central and South America. But again, the only ones that make the sound ”co-quí” are Puerto Rican. The scientific name for the coquí is Eleu-thero-dactylus, characterized because they have no webbed toes.

Interesting fact: The male coquí sings, not the female. That means that in Puerto Rico we hear only half the coquíes singing. The male coquí watches over the eggs. The eggs hatch in 28 days and the young coquíes remain in the nest for an additional 5 days. Again the male coquí watches over them until they leave the nest. How cool is that! Stay at home dad coquies.

Coquíes are in danger of extinction and actually two of them are already extinct – the Coquí Dorado and the Coquí Palmeado. Our coquíes are in danger of extinction because of deforestation. People have destroyed their habitat, destroying their eggs and destroying their source of food and nourishment. So we have to care of them!

Ill be adding a link to video where you can see and hear a Coqui. I hope you enjoy it’s song just as much as we do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRyIGZFtTbw

Tune in soon to read about the legends and myths the Tainos believed about the Coqui!

-Sbracero

This information about the Coqui frog was researched on the web.