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“What kind of bird is that down by the pond making high-pitched noises?” It’s not a bird at all! It is the male frogs singing, looking for a mate! During spring and early summer frogs are singing loud right along with the birds. Can you find a pond or a puddle and spot the singers?
Suggestions to locate these amphibian singers:
- Listen for high pitched noises, follow where the sound is the loudest.
- Move slowly and quietly to avoid disturbing them.
- Watch this video and find out just what species are singing in your yard.
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Click on the links below to learn more about these common Missouri species.
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The upland chorus frog is a small gray or tan frog with dark dorsal stripes that are narrow or broken into a series of dashes or spots.
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The eastern American toad is medium-sized, with horizontal pupils and with a kidney-shaped gland behind each eye. Despite their rough complexion, these common, harmless toads are endearing to most people.
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The high-pitched, peeping call of spring peepers, repeated about once a second, can be heard on warm spring nights and also during the day in early summer and fall.
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The call of the gray treefrog is a musical birdlike trill. The call of Cope’s gray treefrog is a high-pitched buzzing trill, and this species tends to be smaller and is more often green than its lookalike relative.
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The northern cricket frog's color is quite variable: gray, tan, greenish tan, or brown. Its belly is white. Its call is a metallic “gick, gick, gick.”
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The American bullfrog is Missouri’s largest frog. This common species is easy to hear on warm nights when the males call a deep, sonorous “jug-a-rum, jug-a-rum” that can be heard from half a mile away.