Spring Peeper - Pseudacris crucifer bartramania
Sharp Piercing Bird-like Peeps
Spring Peeper - Pseudacris crucifer bartramania
Description & Identification:
Small, may reach 1.5" (32mm). Gray brown to coppery rust red with a distinct but sometimes imperfect "X" mark across the back; underside is light in color with dark spots. Toe discs are large.
Development:
Eggs are white to brown; up to 200 eggs are laid singly or in clumps upon submerged vegetation. Tadpoles reach a maximum size of just over 1.2" (30mm). Metamorphose in approximately 3 months.
Habitat & Behaviors:
Little information known other than its breeding habits; may utilize all types of ponds during the winter breeding season, including cypress heads and woodlands. Rarely observed prior to or after the annual migration to ponds. They become active on rainy winter nights when the temperature is above 50 degrees F (10 degrees C). Apparently live high in trees during the summer..
Similar Species:
Pinewoods treefrogs have silvery to yellow window-like blotches on rear (inside) of thighs. Squirrel treefrogs lack the "X" on the back. Gray treefrogs and western bird-voiced treefrogs have granular skin and a white spot below the eye but are are not found in the Hillsborough River basin.
Voice Call:
High-pitched series of whistles and trills or sharp piercing, bird-like peeps repeated fast; late November to March. A large chorus may sound like sleigh bells when heard from a distance. Usually calls from overhanging vegetation up to a meter or more above the surface of ponds.
