Frogs
What are they?
Frogs are a well known group of animals, with one or more species inhabiting seemingly any body of freshwater in the county, provided it is not polluted. Like toads, frogs begin life as bundles of gelatinous eggs and develop into frogs via a tadpole stage. Frogs are most noticeable in spring and eary summer, when often large congregations of noisily-calling males gather to attract females.
Identification
Some of the smaller treefrogs can be difficult to identify on sight, but all species have distinctive courtship calls which can be a good way to survey species in a given area. Overall color is not usually that useful for identifying frogs and it is better to use markings and structure, as detailed under each species below. Note that juveniles of all treefrog species are green.
Eastern Cricket Frog Acris crepitans
Length: 1.6-3.5 cm. A very common and widespread species throughout the county and found in even the smallest of wet ruts and puddles. Of all the small treefrog species in the area, this is by far the species most likely to be seen. It is best told by its rather rough, slightly warty skin and the black triangle on the top of the head. Color can vary from blackish to pale straw or sand-colored with green or rusty markings.
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Pine Barrens Treefrog Hyla andersonii
Length: 2.8-4.5 cm. This is a state endangered species in New Jersey and a rare species on global scale, with isolated populations in New Jersey, coastal North and South Carolina and the Florida panhandle. Pine Barrens Treefrogs are very elusive, with their staccato, barking call being heard far more often than the species is seen and it is mostly nocturnal in its habits. Though rare, the species can be locally common in suitable habitat, but it remains rare in Cape May County and is known from a small handful of sites in the north of the area.
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Northern Gray Treefrog Hyla versicolor
Length: 3.2-5.1 cm. The two species of gray treefrog found in Cape May County were once considered to be a single species, so their distribution is still a little unclear. Recent work has shown the Northern Gray Treefrog to be common in woodland from Cape May Court House northwards. The two species can only safely be separated from each other by their calls.
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Southern Gray Treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis
(Cope's Gray Treefrog) Length: 3.2-5.1 cm. The two species of gray treefrog found in Cape May County were once considered to be a single species, so their distribution is still a little unclear. Recent work has shown the Southern Gray Treefrog to be common in woodland from Rio Grande southwards. The two species can only safely be separated from each other by their calls.
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Spring Peeper Pseudacris crucifer
Length: 1.9-3.2 cm. A common to locally abundant species throughout the county. Breeding colonies of Spring Peepers are a common sound during the spring moths and can reach quite extraordinary decibel levels! Spring Peepers are frustratingly difficult to find, even when calling in large numbers. They quickly go quiet on human approach and remain motionless in dense vegetation. Background color can vary, but individuals tend to be a pale sandy brown in general. A good identification feature is the dark X mark on the back.
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New Jersey Chorus Frog Pseudacris kalmi
Length: 1.9-3.9 cm. A common to locally abundant species throughout the county. The slightly rising rattle or trill is similar to the sound made by running a thumb along the teeth of a comb. Like Spring Peepers, this species has favored breeding areas in which it gathers in large numbers to breed each spring and colonies are easily located by their noise. Easily identified by call and by the pattern of dark and light stripes on the back.
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American Bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus
Length: 9.0-15.2 cm. A local but often common species and our largest frog. Bullfrogs are big, chunky frogs that dominate the pools they live in and are capable of eating other frog species as well as small birds and even small mammals that come to drink. Smaller individuals are very similar to Green Frogs but can be told by the lack of a fold in the skin, running backwards along the side from just behind the ear drum. On Bullfrogs, there is a single fold that runs back from the eye but then turns downwards behind the ear drum.
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Green Frog Lithobates clamitans
Length: 5.7-9.0 cm. A common and widespread species, found in all kinds of fresh water habitats. Very similar to Smaller individuals of Bullfrogs but can be told by extra fold in the skin, running backwards along the side from just behind the ear drum. On Bullfrogs, there is a single fold that runs back from the eye but then turns downwards behind the ear drum. Green Frogs also tend to have dark markings on the lips, which are missing in Bullfrogs.
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Carpenter Frog Lithobates virgatipes
Length: 4.1-6.7 cm. A local species in Cape May County, generally confined to sphagnum bogs in the northern third of the region. A medium-sized frog, being larger than typical Chorus frogs and related species, yet smaller than other Rana species such as Southern Leopard and Green Frogs. Typically has pale, longitudinal stripes, dark mottling on the throat and no dorsolateral fold.
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Wood Frog Lithobates sylvaticus
Length: 3.5-7.0 cm. A rather local species in Cape May County, usually found in wet woodland habitats. A medium-sized frog that is usually largely brown in color and best told from other local species by the dark mask behind the eye.
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Southern Leopard Frog Lithobates sphenocephalus
Length: 5.7-9.0 cm. A common and widespread species, found in all kinds of fresh water habitats. A medium-sized frog that may be green or brown but always has irregular, blackish spots and a pale lateral line running back from the eye. There is also a white and usually conspicuous spot on the ear drum.
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Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog Lithobates kauffeldi
Length: 5.7-9.0 cm. This species of frog was first described for science in 2014, after careful studies of vocalizations of frogs in the New York area revealed that they differed from all other known populations of leopard frogs - though earlier research began as early as 1936. Since the first discovery, other populations have been identified in New Jersey - including Cape May County - and the species may prove to be present throughout the coastal plain in freshwater wetlands close to tidal waters of the Atlantic coast and Delaware Bay. Identification is based on a complex of differences in DNA, vocalizations and - to a much lesser degree - physical appearance. Confirmed sightings should include recordings of vocalizations at the very least, but some trends in markings may be prove to be useful. In the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog, the white spot on the ear drum tends to be duller and less obvious; while other physical differences have been tested, none seem to be constant enough to use as identification features.
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Pickerel Frog Lithobates palustris
Length: 4.4-7.5 cm. This species islisted in a number of references as occurring in Cape May County but there appears not to have been any recent reports. Pickerel Frogs are superficially similar to leopard frogs, but the dark markings are more extensive and look less rounded, more square-sided. The distinctive call sounds rather like the drumming of a woodpecker.
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