Frogs In February
It is time for the first Frog logging session of the year. Although the ground was covered in ice last week, today the temperature is 68 degrees. I’m hoping to hear some frogs calling this evening. It doesn’t seem possible, but there are frogs in Middle Tennessee who start calling in the winter.
Upland Chorus Frog Pseudacris feriarum
A welcome sound, and one of the first frogs you hear calling in the spring is a chorus frog. This tiny frog, only .07 to 1.4 inches in length, is usually light brown to tan with three dark stripes down its back, with often a dark triangle between the eyes. Upland chorus Frogs are found almost everywhere in Warner Park. They thrive in swampy areas, heavily vegetated ponds, and moist woodlands. In this habitat they find their diet of small insects and invertebrates.
Chorus Frog Eggs
This frog is earliest breeding frog in Tennessee. They prefer breeding in shallow temporary pools. Females can deposit up to 1000 eggs that attach to vegetation in the water. Eggs hatch in 3 to 4 days and the tadpole stage lasts about 2 months.
The call is short, raspy, and rises in pitch. It sounds like someone dragging their thumbnail over the teeth of a comb.
No night sound announces spring like the calling of the spring pepper. For such a small size, 0.7 to 1.2 inches in length, this frog has a big voice. Spring peepers are easily recognizable by the dark brown “X” shape on the back of its brown or gray body. They can be found in brushy or wooded areas close to water, and, as they are considered tree frogs, they are also good climbers and primarily eat small insects.
Spring Peeper Eggs - https://www.amphibianfact.com
Spring Peepers breed in freshwater ponds or pools, especially those without fish. They often use pools that dry up shortly after the tadpoles mature into adult frogs, also known as vernal pools. Females lay from 800 to 1,000 eggs singly or in clusters of 2 to 3. Eggs are attached to submerged vegetation and hatch in 2 to 3 days. Metamorphosis of tadpoles can take up to 3 months.
Listen for a distinct high-pitched whistle that sounds like peep, peep, peep.
Southern Leopard Frog Lithobates sphenocephala
Calling as early as the end of January, these frogs are 2.5 to 3 inches long, have green and brown coloration and are also identifiable by their dark round spots, a light line on the lip, a light spot in the center of the tympanum (eardrum), and a long-pointed snout. Southern Leopard frogs are most often found at the edges of ponds, creeks, and swamps. They are primarily invertivores, feeding on terrestrial arthropods such as insects and spiders.
Leopard Frog Eggs
Females may produce 3,000 to 5,000 eggs laid in a globular mass and attached to stems of vegetation. Eggs hatch in 7 to12 days. Southern Leopard frog tadpoles complete metamorphosis in about 2 to 3 months.
To identify this frog, listen for series of clucks mixed with groans sounding much like a hand-rubbed over a balloon. Listen for them from January through the fall, with peek calling time in February and March.
American Toad Anaxyrus americanus
The American toad is a favorite around the Nature Center. It has short legs, a stout body, warty skin, and is 2 to 3.5 inches long. The color of this toad can be brown, olive, red or gray, and can also change depending on temperature, humidity, or stress. Males are smaller than females. Found in a variety of habitats, look for them along the closed roadway in Edwin Warner in June. Adult toads are carnivores; they eat worms, insects, spiders, and even small mammals or birds. Toad tadpoles are herbivores, and eat aquatic plants and algae. They absorb water through their skin.
Because they are terrestrial, in order to breed American toads must have access to water. Breeding may start as early as late February and may continue as into July, but typically occurs in March and April. Females lay strands of eggs, about 4,000 – 8,000. The eggs hatch within a week and the toads emerge from the pond in about 2 months.
If you have ever been around the Nature Center in the spring, you have heard this call. Listen for a long trill. During mating season, the male’s call is loud and insistent and can even be heard inside nearby buildings!
Burch Reserve
At Warner Park we frog log four times a year. We are following TAMP (Tennessee Amphibian Monitoring Project) protocol. https://leaps.ms/TAMP%20Protocol%20Page%20022019.htm To follow the protocol we begin our research 30 minutes after sunset. We visit eight sites in the park and listen for frogs. If you are interested in learning more about Frog Logging please email me at melissa.donahue@nashville.gov.
