Hi everyone,
I chose my Avatar. Is the "CoquĂÂ". I thought you would like to know about the CoquĂÂ. Here is some information:
The Puerto Rican coquĂ is a very small - tiny - tree frog about one inch long. Some coquĂÂes look green, some brown and some yellowish - actually they are translucent. CoquĂÂes have a high pitched sound and can be heard from far away. The coquĂÂes begin to sing when the sun goes down at dusk. Their melody serenades islanders to sleep. CoquĂÂes sing all night long until dawn when they stop singing and head for the nest. Puerto Ricans love their coquĂÂes and have written poems, stories, and Aguinaldos about them. During the time of the TaĂÂno Indians trillions of coquĂÂes serenated our ancestral home. Many TaĂÂno Indian myths surround the coquĂÂ. CoquĂÂes are found in much of the TaĂÂno art like pictographs and pottery. In Puerto Rico all coquĂÂes are called coquĂ even though not all sing ''co-quĂÂ''. Only two of the species the ''CoquĂ ComĂÂșn'' and the ''CoquĂ de la Montaña or CoquĂ Puertorriqueño'' actually sing ''co-quĂÂ''. Puerto Rican coquĂÂes have relatives all over Latin America. The coquĂ genre is found in all the Caribbean Islands, and in Central and South America. But again, the only ones that make the sound ''co-quĂÂ'' are Puerto Rican. The scientific name for the coquĂ is Eleu-thero-dactylus, characterized because they have no webbed toes. There are 16 different species in Puerto Rico and all of them have padded discs at the end of their toes which helps them climb. CoquĂÂes are classified as amphibians - a grouping for cold blooded vertebrates that includes frogs, toads, or newts -that are able to live in both water and land. Contrary to frogs, the coquĂÂes do not go through a tadpole stage and break out of their egg - a small replica of their parents. Some coquĂÂes are terrestrial some are arboreal. The CoquĂ Dorado is the only specie in the world that bears live young. The male coquĂ sings - not the female. That means that in Puerto Rico we hear only half the coquĂÂes singing. The male coquĂ watches over the eggs. The eggs hatch in 28 days and the young coquĂÂes remain in the nest for an additional 5 days. Again the male coquĂ watches over them until they leave the nest. When there is more light either from the moon or from street lights, there are less coquĂÂes to be heard. Therefore there are more coquĂÂes in isolated areas like the mountains. The specie ''Puerto Rican coquĂÂ'' sings co-quĂÂ, co-quĂÂ, co-quĂ at dusk and changes to co-quĂÂ-quĂÂ-quĂÂ, co-quĂÂ-quĂÂ-quĂÂ, co-quĂÂ-quĂÂ-quĂÂ, at dawn. It is arboreal - climbing to the top of trees in search of insects. There it remains until dawn when it changes its song and jumps down nesting until the evening.
Take care,
Bebita.
