Gecko chirping

[buffalogal]

We live south of Houston TX. At night, outside our bedroom window, we hear what at first we thought was birds chirping. Then my husband thought they might be geckos. (He vaguely remembered them making odd noises when he was in Guam.)

Do geckos (NOT Geico) make these chirp-like sounds? If so, why at night?

[Tamerlane]

Yep. At least the various introduced species of geckos of Indo-Pacific origin, that have naturalized in coastal Texas ( and other "Gulf States" ) in particular, do. It's just like bird song - Territorial and mate advertisement. Why at night? Because they're nocturnal . That's when they're out hunting on your windows ( preferred hunting spots, since lights attract insects at dusk and night for them to feed on ).

Rule of thumb in the U.S. about Geckos - If they're crawling on your windows and walls, they aren't native. Our native Euplepharid Geckos don't have the fancy lamellar pads that allow that sort of thing. They just cruise along the ground ( but they are also nocturnal ).

However these introduced Geckos appear to actually be beneficial introductions in that they don't seem to be obviously displacing any native fauna ( their niche as a climbing, nocturnally hunting lizard, was a largely unoccupied one, though I suppose they may have impacted some invertebrate or other ) and they are quite helpful in terms of insect control.

Be kind to your Geckos .

- Tamerlane

[buffalogal]

Thanks.