Southern Spring Peeper
Pseudacris crucifer bartramiana / Hyla crucifer bartramiana
Description: The spring peeper is one of the most familiar frogs in the eastern United States. Chorus frogs are most often heard and not seen. This frog can be recognized, however by its tan, brown, or grayish body with a distinctive dark X on its back.
Distribution: The Spring Peeper occurs in hardwood bottoms from the vicinity of Orlando northwards.
Habitat: The spring peeper is a chorus frog, and the habitats of chorus frogs usually include shallow, and often temporary, bodies of water, or areas where they may remain well hidden, such as clumps of grass or other vegetation. It is found in wooded areas and in or near ponds and swamps that are temporarily or permanently flooded. Spring peepers are nocturnal, and they hibernate during the day under logs or loosened bark on trees.
Reproduction: Their breeding season correlates with the cool rains that begin in November, and typically calls from late November to early March. Usually they call from overhanging vegetation up to a meter or more above the surface of ponds.
Call: A rising whistle, or a series of high-pitched whistles and trills. The Spring Peeper will sing during both the day and the night.
Click HERE to listen to the call of the Southern Spring Peeper.
(A new browser window will open with the sound file)
Development of these pages was a cooperative effort. Photos were supplied by Barry Mansell Photos and calls were provided by Paul Moler, state herpetologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Location: http://yourdomain.edu