Wildlife Promise » frogs

My Top 10 Frog Photos for Save the Frogs Day

Beth Pratt — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 17:44:36 +0000

Regular readers of my blog know frogs rank as one of my favorite animals (right above pika and wolves, although all animals are really my favorite). Frogs have fascinated me for my entire life–as a young girl, I built special frog habitat in my backyard, and as an adult I serve as an advisory council member for the nonprofit, Save the Frogs, which holds an annual Save the Frogs Day each year. The National Wildlife Federation works regularly with Save the Frogs, and cosponsored an event in Yosemite National Park last year and several events across the country in 2013 such as a 5K run in Seattle.

To celebrate this special frog holiday, I thought I would share my top ten frog photos from my encounters with these remarkable creatures. To learn more about how you can help frogs, read Frogs Need Our Help, So Hop to It! by NWF’s Anne Bolen.

In my backyard frog pond, I enjoy watching all the new tadpoles transform into frogs each year. I love this photo as it shows a tadpole gazing at his big brother and probably thinking, hey, when do I get to do that? (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Pacific chorus frog froglets emerging from my pond. Build a small pond in your backyard–becoming a frog mom each year to hundreds of frogs is wonderful! (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Frog vs. mantid on my porch window ledge. The battle ended in a draw. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

I just named Gaylor Lakes in Yosemite one of the top 7 stunning places to see wildlife for CNN. Why? Aside from the scenery, the annual mating love song of the Yosemite toad fills the alpine basin surrounded by granite peaks with beautiful music. (Photo by Beth Pratt).

Forget the bison and elk ruts in Yellowstone. The annual frog rut is amazing (and deafening). Boreal chorus frogs almost double their body size when they sing. The ponds near Canyon Village provide some good viewing. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

This curious Pacific chorus frog in a pond near Tioga Pass made no move to dart away–he kept swimming toward me as I snapped photos. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Frogs will sometimes mistake floating vegetation for another frog during the mating season, like this Pacific chorus frog in Yosemite. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

The Columbia spotted frog is one of two frog species in Yellowstone. They hang out near stream banks and I would always observe them on the Old Gardiner Road during my walks. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Western toads also frequent my backyard and they make their homes in the same place year after year. This animal lives in my well house. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Pacific chorus frogs are always a delight to discover in the garden. (Photo by Beth Pratt)

Our Favorite Apps Where You Pretend to be Animals or Naturalists

Carla Brown — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 16:19:19 +0000

Earlier this month, I shared our reviews of apps where you learn animal facts. Well, my kids Nora and Russell were keen to keep testing apps – so we branched out to a new type – apps for people who want to BE the animal or naturalist in the games.

We learn in different ways and these apps appeal to the type of learner who learns by doing – or a kinesthetic learner. Instead of reading or listening to facts, you LIVE the facts!

In most of these apps, you move through a world by tapping or dragging your finger. Often you can play these games without the ability to read, making them appealing to younger children.

Here are my kids’ favorite apps of this type:

BeBee the Bee - This was my son’s favorite app of ALL the apps we tested. You are Bebee flying around gathering pollen and nectar. When you see a flower, you tap above it and pollinate the flower. You also have to avoid obstacles such as other bees, thorns and dragonflies. My son was already familiar with the concept of pollination so I don’t know if he really learned a lot by playing this game, but he kept asking to play it because he enjoys games where he moves through a world gathering points. My daughter enjoyed this game as well. There is a free version of this app and you can unlock more levels for $1.99 or $2.99.

BeBee the Bee app

Great Migrations HD – In this app, you learn about migrations of species such as monarchs, salmon, zebras and red crabs. You start with monarchs. One somewhat humorous aspect of this app is that if you have your sound on, the whole time it is playing some very dramatic scary music, like you might hear at the most dramatic moment of a movie. While migrations are definitely dramatic, that gets tiring and in fact, at one point, Nora got so stressed when her monarchs started to die that she said, “I just can’t do this!” I suggested we turn off the sound and then she enjoyed the game very much. She would take the role of the lead monarch, and she would experiment with the wind patterns, predators such as spiders and other obstacles to move her monarch friends to safety. She really enjoyed this game. This app costs $0.99.

Great Migrations app

Isopod: The Roly Poly Science Game – You are a “roly poly,” one of those tiny bugs that rolls into a ball when threatened. To play, you hold your iPad in two hands and slowly manipulate it back and forth as if the roly poly was a marble on the surface of the iPad, and you were trying to roll it back and forth. You have goals to bump into some types of insects to win, and avoid others to lose. The insects in the game are realistically drawn and their real Latin names are given. The predator/prey relationships are shown, although some insects have special powers like giving you more health. I found this game exciting because I don’t normally use an iPad this way, and it took practice. My son liked it more than my daughter. Both my kids love bugs, but it would not be a good choice if you are scared of spiders or find it creepy to listen to them chomping on insects. This app costs $1.99.

Isopod: The Roly Poly Science Game app

Pocket Frogs – This was my daughter’s favorite app of all the ones we tested. It took us a minute to figure this out, but then she was collecting frogs, breeding them and making eggs in her frog nursery. She was completely excited about learning about frogs and managing her froggy world. The sound that the frogs make when they hop around in the pond is completely adorable, and this is coming from a parent who listened to it for a very long time. As Nora got more advanced with the game, she was strategizing which frogs to breed to create the cutest frog possible. This is a free app.

Pocket Frogs app

Wild Kratts Creature Power – My son is a huge Wild Kratts fan. A few years ago, he became so interested that he and his dad designed costumes like the ones in this show out of cardboard and ribbon, so he could be a cheetah and have super powers. So I was quite sure the app would be a huge hit for him. Sure enough, he loved it. Even though it is not designed for iPad yet, we downloaded it to the iPad and it just didn’t fill the screen. But that didn’t stop Russell. By putting on his creature power suits, he could live like a bee, raccoon and elephant. This app costs $2.99.

Wild Kratts Creatures App – Bee

One feature he loved was that I could take his photo with the iPad and his face would be put into a graphic so it looked like he was wearing one of the power suits.

Wild Kratts Creatures App – My son’s face with the bee body

Which Wildlife and Nature Apps Does Your Family Enjoy?

We’d love to hear about your experiences with these apps or others. Of course nothing connects children with nature and wildlife more than time outside, so be sure to balance your screen time and green time today.

Also, I want to put in a plug for National Wildlife Federation’s award-winning kids’ magazines, because my kids love them. When you subscribe to our magazines, it helps National Wildlife Federation continue our work of engaging children to care about nature! Subscribe to Ranger Rick and Ranger Rick Jr. magazines today!

And be sure to check out National Wildlife Federation’s animal and nature apps for kids!

Spotify Wildlife: Finding Bird, Amphibian and Insect Calls Online

Danielle Brigida — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:34:48 +0000

Music of Nature’s Website

While I’ve written about listening online before, I haven’t really covered how much a curious person can learn from nature just by listening to various wild melodies. With the huge popularity of sites like Pandora and Spotify, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss some great places to hear some of nature’s music from our wildlife.

Here are a few resources that I’ve found myself using–but please, if you know of others, share them in the comments!

Bird Songs

eNature has a section on the site called “Bird Audio” that allows you to select different calls to play. They also offer various free bird call ring tones. Once you’ve studied all these it may be fun to take their bird call quiz… I’m too chicken (ha!).
Birdjam not only offers up free songs to listen to, but also has playlists for certain habitats, as well as apps you can download for a small fee. I love the idea of bird call playlists by habitat!
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers free bird call noises and downloads with an exchange of an email address. They are always sending helpful information, so it’s a worthy trade.

for wildlife?

Frog Calls

These suckers are a little tricky to track down. I’ve found it useful to search your area for “frog calls” based on state or region and not just the generic search. This works with bird calls too… Also—if you’re already interested in frog calls and identification, I highly recommend getting involved with Frog Call USA (if you’re in the U.S., that is).

Cleveland Museum of Natural History has Ohio’s frogs and toads
U.S. Geological Survey’s Midwest Region has downloadable calls
The Western Soundscape Archive has one of the most comprehensive lists of amphibians.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology also has an impressive amphibian downloadable list for what it’s worth.
I heavily rely on Virginia Herpetological Society’s amazing website for ID/calls so finding your local chapter may be the way to go!

Insects Noises

Music of Nature – Master species insect list. (Hat tip to About Insects for reminding me of this.)
Nature Songs has a few of the generic songs.
Bug bytes by the USDA would be a bit of a better resource if it was more user friendly.

While I haven’t tried a “frog call channel” on Pandora, I will say there are a few albums of nature sounds on Spotify if you look hard enough. A few of the compilations worth searching for on Spotify are:

“Sounds of North American Frogs” (keeping in mind this collection came together in 1958 so the scientific names are sadly incorrect in a few cases)
“Wild Tones Bird Calls”
“Song birds: Parks and Gardens” – or another variation

I have been unable to locate insects songs on Spotify, but hopefully some will be available soon. I’ve also been silly and made animal playlists by themes (one of my favorites is “Reptiles and Amphibians”) with songs that include a species in their title.

Do you listen to wildlife sounds? What sites do you use?

Things That Go Bump—or Hoot—in the Night: 5 Animals You May Hear While Camping in Your Yard

Laura Tangley — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:51:29 +0000

Welcome to June, officially designated as Great Outdoors Month by the federal government and several states across the country. Here at the National Wildlife Federation, we’ll be celebrating the outdoors in a big way on June 23 with NWF’s Great American Backyard Campout.

If you participate–and we hope you do–here’s an idea for something to do in the dark without your television or computer handy. Just sit quietly and listen! Depending on where you live, you’re likely to hear one or more of the following animals vocalizing sometime between sunset and sunrise.

1. Owls

Barred Owl by Peggy Hanna

North American owls range in size from the tiny elf owl—at 5¾ inches, the world’s smallest owl species—to the great horned owl, a powerful predator that is nearly 2 feet long. Ecologically, owls are similar to hawks but hunt at night rather than during the day. Both owls and hawks have plumage that is primarily brown, rust, black and white. Differences stem from owls’ nocturnal hunting. The birds have round facial discs, for instance, that focus sound waves to highly sensitive ear openings. And owls’ eyes are specially adapted to gather what little light may be available at night.

Listen to the “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?” call of the barred owl:

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Katydids

Katydid by Katherine Clifton

Closely related to grasshoppers and crickets, katydids sing at night during the warm months throughout much of North America. Males do the singing in order to attract mates and establish territories. Their songs are produced by rubbing a set of tiny pegs, called a file, at the base of one wing against a strong ridge, called a scraper, on the other wing. Each katydid species has its own unique song, which both males and females can hear with ears that are located on the insects’ forelegs.

Listen to the sound of katydids singing at night:

Click here to view the embedded video.

3. Frogs

Frog Close-up by Evan Gracie

Scientists have described nearly 6,000 frog species, and these amphibians live pretty much everywhere on Earth except in Antarctica. The United States and Canada are home to about 100 species. Spring is the time to start listening for frogs such as spring peepers and wood frogs. Other species wait until the weather warms. Frog calls also are slower at low temperatures because muscles that make the sounds move more slowly. Frogs around the world are in trouble: About 120 species have gone extinct in recent years, and one-third to one-half of the others are a risk.

Listen to frogs calling at night:

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Crickets

Field Crickets by Gail Napor

Nothing evokes a warm summer night quite like the soothing sound of crickets chirping. Like katydids, male crickets sing to attract mates and create their species-specific songs by rubbing their wings together. At 77 degrees F, field crickets chirp about two or three times per second, slowing down when the temperature drops. Crickets, katydids and grasshoppers all belong to insect order Orthoptera, which includes some 21,400 known species worldwide, about 1,200 of them found in North America north of Mexico.

Listen to crickets chirping at night:

Click here to view the embedded video.

5. Mockingbirds

Northern Mockingbirds by Dennis Raffelson

During the breeding season, many songbirds begin their dawn chorus well before sleepy campers crawl out of their tents. But if you hear a bird singing loudly (perhaps annoyingly) in the middle of the night, it’s likely to be the northern mockingbird. Skilled mimics, mockingbirds put together long, complex songs by combining imitations of other bird species (and sometimes non-avian sounds). The birds continue adding new sounds to their repertoires as long as they live. Males, which sing more often and louder than females, may learn some 200 different songs during their lives.

Listen to one northern mockingbird’s amazing song:

Click here to view the embedded video.

All of the photos above were donated by past participants in the National Wildlife® Photo Contest. To enter your best shots in this year’s competition, visit the contest site.

Explore More: Check out five animal species you may see in your backyard at night. To learn more about nocturnal wildlife and how to attract and nurture native species that come out after the sun sets, read “Enjoying the Nightlife” by Janet Marinelli in National Wildlife magazine.

Certify Your Property: Make your backyard more attractive to wildlife active both day and night by turning it into an NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat® site.

Wildlife Gardening on Today Show

David Mizejewski — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 13:00:24 +0000

Garden for Wildlife Month kicks off on May 1st so I themed my most recent appearance on the Today Show around “backyard wildlife,” native plants, and simple tips on how to make your garden a place for the local critters to call home.

Not all the wildlife that can benefit from a wildlife-friendly garden are songbirds, butterflies and cute, furry mammals. Some of them are slimy, slithery and nocturnal too, and they are no less important or cool to see (although hosts Jenna Wolf and Lester Holt still might not be convinced based on their funny facial expressions).

Watch the segment below and meet some of these non-traditional species, and then submit your garden to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat!

Special thanks to partner American Beauties Native Plants for providing the gorgeous plants for the segment.

A Tour of My Backyard Frog Pond for Save the Frogs Day

Beth Pratt — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:14:43 +0000

New pacific chorus frogs emerging from my frog pond (photo by Beth Pratt)

I’m not sure when my passion for frogs began—as a child of the 70s I’m sure watching Kermit the Frog on the Muppet Show had something to do with my interest. My mother tells me my curiosity about frogs began at an early age. I would collect frogs in a bucket, name them all George, watch them in a special frog habitat I constructed in our backyard, then release them to their “families” at night. I don’t really know why I named them George.

A few years ago I added a backyard frog pond to my home outside Yosemite (Certified Wildlife Habitat™ of course!). Build it and they will come. Only a few weeks after I erected the pond, I encountered a western toad at dusk heading toward the water with his peculiar walk.

Now year after year in the spring, I listen to the distinct and loud “kreck-ek” of the Pacific Chorus Frogs day and night. Mary Dickerson, who authored The Frog Book in 1906, deemed the chorus frog the “entertaining little acrobat of the frog world” and described their song: “At dusk or on rainy days a loud resonant trill comes from the trees and vines. The sound has the charm of contentment in it; in fact it is much like the purring of a cat, only louder.”

And of course much to my delight I also have an annual birth of chorus frog tadpoles in my pond (I love the Honduras word for tadpole: “bunbulun”). Watching these little guys transform from egg, to tadpole, to frog each year is magical.

A Tour of My Backyard Frog Pond

Click here to view the embedded video.

Despite the success of my backyard frog sanctuary, I am extremely worried about our frog friends across the globe. As Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Today, amphibians worldwide are disappearing at an unprecedented rate—over a third of all amphibians are on the verge of extinction.

How can you help? Consider making your backyard frog and wildlife friendly through the National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat™ program. It’s fun and really does make a difference for frogs who are suffering from a loss of habitat in many areas.

National Wildlife Magazine also has an excellent new article about amphibian decline: Frogs Need Our Help, So Hop to It!

April 28^th is the 4^th annual celebration of the international Save the Frogs Day. The National Wildlife Federation is helping to sponsor two events, in Seattle and Yosemite National Park. Look for a Save the Frogs event in your area and come out and support our little green friends!

National Wildlife Federation’s Storytelling Video Diary Series shares the candid tales of nine NWF staffers from around the country; armed with their cameras in the Great Lakes, California, South Dakota, the Pacific Northwest, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC, these nine staffers will share with you their individual trials, epiphanies and stories as they unfold in their daily adventures.

Five Ways to Embrace Mud This Spring

Carla Brown — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:15:14 +0000

My family is lucky because we have a frog pond behind our house. At this time of year, the frogs chirp very loudly every time there is rain or the temperature rises. This year we have a bounty of frog eggs to observe.

While the kids were out exploring the mud and observing frogs, I taped this video diary:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So to summarize, here are five ways to embrace mud this spring:

Show your kids that you are totally okay with them getting muddy.
Have a mud mat and hose handy.
Bring inexpensive nets and shovels.
Have easy snacks pre-made by the door so they don’t have to go inside to eat.
Write a specific goal for an outdoor place you want to explore with your children.

And here’s a bonus tip if your kids are small and you need to stay handy. I bring a book or magazine to pass the time while I sit nearby. My husband brings his MP3 player and Sudoku. I’m trying to give them a true free hour without adults telling them how to play or how to learn, but I do want to keep them safe. So if I can keep my hands busy, I’m more likely to sit quietly and just let them do their thing.

Hopefully this video inspires you to be okay with mud and let the kids get knee-deep in it. They are learning and celebrating life!

Here are some resources to enhance your spring nature explorations:

Wildlife Watch – Get a customized list of wildlife for your area and report which wildlife you see.
Nature Find – Find muddy places near you.
Certify Your Yard for Wildlife – Invite frogs to your yard by gardening for wildlife.

Suggested Tweet:

5 Ways to Embrace Mud This Spring – Makes Kids Happy! - http://blog.nwf.org/2012/03/mud/ @nwf

7 Animals to Bring You Good Luck

Anne Senft — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:49:19 +0000

Butterfly alighting on a fellow traveler (Photo: Anne Senft)

While on a National Wildlife Federation Expedition to Belize, I witnessed a lovely butterfly landing on the hat of a fellow traveler. It was right then and there that I first learned that a butterfly alighting on you was a sign of good luck. (Needless to say, this was great news for me as it meant I could stop picking up random pennies!) Besides butterflies, what other animals are believed to bring good luck?

Dolphins – Dolphins are considered lucky in many different cultures. For Christians and Native Americans, the dolphin is a symbol of protection, and its image is said to bring good luck. The belief stems from the fact that ancient sailors who spent months or even years away from land found the sight of dolphins swimming around their ships to be the first indication that land was near.

Red Bats – In China, red bats are symbols of long life and amulets are worn as lucky charms that bring happiness. The red bat is thought to ward off evil. Five red bats can also represent the “five good fortunes” of health, longevity, love, wealth and virtue.

Crickets – A cricket on the hearth has been a sign of household luck for thousands of years. In the Far East as well as across Europe, it’s considered very bad luck to kill a cricket, even by accident. And, besides being good luck charms, crickets can also tell you the temperature.

Tortoises – Tortoises are considered a good luck symbol in Feng-Shui decorating. The tortoise is one of the four celestial animals in feng shui; the others are dragon, phoenix and tiger.

Scarabs- Dating back to Ancient Egypt, scarabs have been considered symbols of the rising sun and a protector from evil. The scarab is also a symbol of rebirth, regeneration and transformation.

Photo: Donated by Tianne Strombeck

Frogs– Frogs have been a symbol of prosperity, wealth, friendship and abundance in many cultures and a symbol of fertility in others. For the Romans, the frog was a mascot believed to bring good luck to one’s home. The native Aborigines of Australia believed that frogs brought the thunder and rain, to help the plants to grow.

Symbolically adopt a frog, dolphin or tortoise, by visiting NWF’s Adoption Center.

Attract butterflies, frogs and other wildlife to your backyard through NWF’s Certified Wildlife Habitat(r) program.

Source: 50 Good Luck Symbols From Around The World

Reminders of Frogs, Five Leap Years Past

Corey Vezina — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 21:02:46 +0000

Blanchard's Cricket Frog. Photo by: Dick Bartlett

Wednesday is Leap Day, which got me to thinking about one of my favorite jumping critters – frogs.

Growing up with about 10 acres of woods behind my house and a brook flowing right through the middle of it, I am no stranger to frogs. During the hot summer days in Rhode Island, my friends and I would wade in the small pools as we ventured out on “missions” playing GI Joe. All around us, there were frogs leaping about as we crept along the brook. Spring and early summer nights were always my favorite though. You could sleep with the windows open and listen to a performance every night. With woods surrounding our house on 3 sides and being at the end of the street, it was the perfect place to listen to a choir of frogs.

How Are Frogs Faring This Leap Year?

Check out our factsheet on the threats from climate change frogs are facing.

The quick rundown goes like this:

Frog and toad habitats are drying up as reduced snowmelt means less water for ponds and streams.
The Sierra Nevada Yellow Legged Frog has disappeared from 90% of its mountain habitat.
Many frog species are becoming more susceptible to disease.
Drought, wildfires, and shifts in climate are forcing frogs out of house and home. Just look at the Houston Toad fighting for survival in Texas.

Take our online quiz to learn some more fun frog facts!

Preventing Carbon Pollution

Carbon pollution from coal-burning power plants, refineries, and vehicles is causing worldwide climate change. Thankfully, EPA is taking action to limit our nation’s carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. The sooner we can reduce carbon pollution, the greater chance we will have to slow climate change

This Leap Year, take action to protect frogs and support EPA’s new rules to limit carbon pollution from power plant smokestacks so we can take a leap forward in the fight against climate change.

Have Fun With Frogs This Leap (Frog) Day!

Rachel Arenstein — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:25:50 +0000

Leap day is almost here! Take some time this February 29^th to leap into fun with frogs.

Nearly a third of the world’s amphibian species, including frogs, are now threatened. So, take the extra day we get every four years to spend some time showing your appreciation for these amazing amphibians.

Leap Day Activities

Test your knowledge: Take the Leap Day Frog Quiz!

Get creative: Make origami frogs, and have a leaping contest.

Go outside: Build a frog pond.

Challenge yourself: Play the tree frog game.

Find out: What other animals have self-catapulting capabilities?

Learn more: Read about how frogs and toads are threatened by climate change and how new limits to carbon pollution from smokestacks can help.

My origami frog leaped a whole 29 inches! Use the comments section below to share how far your frog can leap and which frog activities you enjoyed most this Leap Day.