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What’s That Sound? The Gray Tree Frog

June 7, 2020 by Tom Kalinowski 6 Comments

Gray Tree FrogSpring is a season when the greatest abundance of natural sounds echo across the landscape. During the day, birds are primarily responsible for the variety of musical calls; however as darkness approaches, especially when the weather is mild, the voices of amphibians produce our most captivating sounds.

Around the alder-laden shores of ponds, marshes and rivers, choruses of tiny spring peepers regularly drown out the songs sung by all other creatures. During the latter part of May, after dusk, toads can be seen heading to similar shallow wooded waterways to engage in their nocturnal serenade.

Around Memorial Day, if the weather has been warm and the temperature at the surface of lakes and marshes nears sixty degrees, the short, yet distinct call of the green frog can be heard. It resembles the note made by a plucked banjo string (and can be heard here). It is also during this time of year when the unique voice of the gray tree frog radiates from certain woodland aquatic settings (hear one of those here).

The gray tree frog has expanded its numbers over the past several decades; yet even in places where it is common, this amphibian is a challenge to see. While its name implies that it is gray, this creature varies in color depending on the background in which it is presently located. Should it be perched next to a clump of lush foliage, its skin develops an olive green shade. Moving to a backdrop of dead leaves and dried vegetation, this amphibian eventually becomes a similar brownish color. If it is clinging to a twig that supports gray bark, the gray tree frog becomes gray. The color changes experienced by this amphibian are rather subtle and not as dramatic as those of creatures like the chameleon, however, its protective camouflage is as effective as that of any form of wildlife in the State.

The small size of the gray tree frog also contributes to its inconspicuous nature, as this amphibian never exceeds 2 inches when fully grown. Additionally, its preference for residing on branches and twigs above eye level, rather than on the forest floor or in places of shallow water, causes it to be overlooked by passersby. During most of the summer, this small amphibian remains well above the ground, where it scours the leaves and twigs for various bugs and invertebrates, just as warblers or vireos do.

Like tree frogs in other regions of the world, the gray tree frog has toes equipped with special suction-cup ends that allow this miniature vertebrate to effectively attach itself to tree surfaces. Even though the trunks and limbs of many trees and shrubs possess rough-textured bark that would seem to prevent any such device from adhering to their surface, the pads on the bottom of its toes contain a secretion that greatly aids in the ability to temporarily stick to such objects.

Roughly four to six weeks after emerging from their winter dormancy, gray tree frogs descend from their lofty perches and migrate toward suitable bodies of water in which to breed. Small, shallow woodland ponds are favored breeding sites, especially those that contain trees and shrubs along the shore with branches that overhang the water. Aquatic settings that lack fish and other tadpole predators are also strongly favored. In larger bodies of water, their offspring would be quickly eaten after they emerge from their eggs in late spring.

Like the toad, the male gray tree frog’s breeding call can be described as a trill. However, the voice of this creature is more powerful and carries for a greater distance than the toad’s. Also, the gray tree frog’s song is shorter in duration, as its burst of energy lasts only about one second.

While the gray tree frog is said to prefer deciduous woodlands over dense stands of conifers, I have occasionally heard a chorus of its music radiating form bodies of water surrounded by nothing but softwoods at this time of year.

Photo: Gray Tree Frog, courtesy Wikimedia user LA Dawson.

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Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Nature, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: amphibians, frogs, nature, Wildlife

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Richard Daly says

    June 8, 2020 at 6:21 AM

    Thanks, Tom. When I first encountered the grey tree frog here on Cumberland Head in Plattsburgh, I ID’d them as ‘albino.’ Now, I know better!

    Reply
  2. RAEJEAN MYERS says

    May 21, 2021 at 1:05 PM

    I found one on my balcony yesterday. I kept hearing this really loud noise and thought it was some huge bird sitting on my roof but never saw one. I looked down at my garden chair and there was this 2″ bit nearly pure white frog sitting there. I went to get it something to eat but it was gone when I got back. I live on the 2nd floor so it must be able to either climb down the brick wall of the building or just jumped 20 feet to the ground.

    Reply
  3. Jill Parent says

    June 21, 2021 at 10:35 AM

    I’ve had grey tree frogs in my yard in Morrisonville for years! Love them. They are amazing little creatures. I have a hand dug pond in my yard and a lot of shrubs and small trees, so I get a lot of different animal species. The tree frogs are one of my favorites. They talk to each other at night.

    Reply
  4. Thomas Plaisted says

    July 19, 2021 at 10:49 AM

    I have heard another curious sound from the tree frog. It is almost like a clu k of a chicken when they do a slow call. Does this gray tree frog make this sound too?

    Reply
  5. trish walsh medina says

    August 19, 2021 at 10:28 PM

    there are here in rosendale over the last week i have seen about 5 tonight a larger one is hanging one the front door . and a baby one next to it . last week i hear it before i saw it , it was preched under the gutter hanging out out in a small hole of my soffit i got a ladder to bring it down and saw that it was sitting and chirping and next to it was a wasp figuered that why it was being so loud i grabbed it and the first thing i noticed was the yellowish lines of the legs and a gray body when i put it down in some under grrowth is when it changed color it did blend right in . when i returned my ladder ,went back to find him but had difficult time cause it changed and did blend inn

    Reply
  6. Bobbie C Thompson says

    February 19, 2022 at 4:57 PM

    I rescued 20 tadpoles last summer from a Leopard frog that was on a tadpole diet. Around 1/2 of the froglets drowned as soon as they absorbed their tail, that’s when a friend who was a wildlife biologist told me they were GrayTree frogs. I currently have 10 in tanks in side, ranging from 4 months to 6 1/2 months old. Hope to acclimate them back outside this spring, I have enough trees for each to have their own. The last baby that morphed has a deformed back leg and is still very small, I’ll be keeping him since theirs no way he could survive. I’ve really enjoyed the experience, and hate to turn them loose.

    Reply

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