Common Frog - Rana temporaria

• Color: The common frog varies greatly in color and it can even change its color to blend in with its surroundings. This frog can be red, brown, black, or even blue. And the colors tend to be a paler in a warmer environment and a darker in a cooler environment.
• Size: Females are larger than males and the adult female can be up to 4 inches in length while the adult male is about 3 inches in length.
• Weight: As an adult, the common frog weighs about .35 to .7 oz.
• Habits: The common frog may hunt during the day but in general it mostly hunts at night. This frog is mostly a solitary animal except during breeding season.
• Habitat: The common frog is found throughout Europe and east into central Asia. It lives on moors and marshes, along rivers and beside ponds and lakes, and even in grassy meadows and in the woods.
• Hibernation: The hibernation period of the common frog is generally from November to March.
• Breeding: Breeding season is from January to March. A female can lay 2,000-4,000 eggs at one time. The eggs are laid in water and hatch in about 10-12 days. The metamorphosis period from tadpole to frog takes 12-14 weeks. And a frog is considered mature at age 2-3 years.
• Interesting Facts: The adult frog can breathe through its moist skin which allows it to hibernate in mud and other moist environments. The common frog blinks it large eyes in order to help it swallow down its food. This frog hunts partly by smell but it is mainly attracted by movement.

Common Toad - Bufo bufo

• Color: The common toad also varies in color. It can be anywhere from yellow to black in color with dark patches on the upper body.
• Size: The adult female is larger than the male. The male can be about 3-4 inches in length while the female can be up to 6 inches in length.
• Weight: The adult male toad weighs about 2-3 oz while the female can weigh up to 4 oz.
• Habits: The common toad is mostly solitary except during breeding and hibernation. It hunts primarily at night.
• Habitat: The common toad is found in a variety of habitats but still tends to keep near damp areas. This toad is found throughout Europe, except Ireland. It is also found across Asia and into Japan. And the common toad is even found in northwestern Africa.
• Hibernation: The common toad hibernates from about October to February.
• Breeding: Breeding season for the common toad starts in February and ends in April. The female can lay 3,000-12,000 eggs. The eggs hatch into tadpole after about 10 days, then takes 2-3 months to morph into frogs. Male toads reach maturity at about 2-3 years while females can take up to 4 years.
• Interesting Facts: The common toad has been known survive three years in hibernation without food. It can steep surfaces, including walls. Besides secreting a poisonous toxin when threatened, the common toad also inflates its body to look bigger.

North American Tree Frog - Hyla (about 14 species in North America)

• Color: The tree frog is found in many different colors and with many different patterns. The tree frog photo shown here is the endangered Pine Barren Tree Frog (Hyla andersonii). The pine barren tree frog is generally green on top and yellow to brown on the underbelly with a thin white color separating the two.
• Traits: The tree frog is known for its loud calls and small size. And it has large adhesive toe pads.
• Size: The size of the tree frog varies by species and ranges from ½ inch to 5 ½ inches. The pine barren tree frog pictured here gets no larger than an 1 ½ inches while the Cuban tree frog can be much larger than 5 inches in length.
• Habits: Like most frogs and toads, the tree frog is mostly solitary except during breeding season.
• Habitat: Tree frogs are found throughout the world in woodlands and grassy areas near ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes, etc. The North American tree frog is found mostly in the U.S., except in the Great Plains region. The pine barrens tree frog lives in the pine barren regions of New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, and even Florida. They tend to live near swamps, bogs, and other wetland areas.
• Hibernation: Most species of tree frogs hibernate during the cooler months.
• Breeding: Tree frogs can lay anywhere from a few hundred to 2,000 eggs, depending on species. The eggs hatch anywhere from 2-10 days. The metamorphosis period can take 1-2 months. And maturity is reached in about a year. The mating season of the pine barren tree frog pictured here is during May - July. The eggs hatch in about three days and a pine barren tree frog is not considered mature until about 2-3 years old.
• Interesting Facts: Some species of tree frogs can coat themselves with a layer of mucus in order to keep their moisture within their bodies. The pine barren tree frog is considered an endangered species.

American Bullfrog - Rana catesbeiana

• Color: The patterned upper body of the American bullfrog ranges from green to black while the underbelly is yellowish. The female bullfrog is usually browner and more spotted. The eardrum of the bullfrog is easily visible behind the frog’s eye and is larger in males.
• Traits: The American bullfrog is named for its loud bellowing bull-like call.
• Size: The American bullfrog can get up to 8 inches in length. Unlike most other frogs, the male is larger than the female.
• Weight: An American bullfrog weighs .5 to 1.5 pounds. It is the largest frog in North America.
• Habits: Like most frogs and toads, the American bullfrog is mostly solitary and nocturnal.
• Habitat: Originally from eastern North America, the American bullfrog has been introduced to parts of western North America, Europe, and some of the Caribbean Islands. Unlike most other adult frogs, the American bullfrog spends most of its time in water. It even eats underwater.
• Hibernation: The American bullfrog has a longer hibernation period than most other frogs, especially in the northernmost regions of its habitat. It may even take until May before its hibernation period ends. Hibernation usually takes place underwater.
• Breeding: The breeding season of the American bullfrog lasts from May to July in the north and February to October in the south. The female can lay up to 20,000 eggs. The eggs hatch in 4-20 days, depending on the climate. And the metamorphosis period can take 1-3 years, especially in the cooler regions. Sexual maturity is not reached until 2-4 years after metamorphosis.
• Interesting Facts: The American bullfrog sheds its skin every few days. The skin is usually eaten by these frogs. The legs of these frogs are the types that are generally eaten in restaurants.

Cane Toad or Marine Toad - Bufo marinus

• Color: The cane toad ranges from a greenish-brown to a reddish-brown. It is speckled with white spots and has a yellowish underside speckled with brown.
• Size: The cane toad ranges from 4-10 inches in length with the female being larger than the male. It is the largest toad in the world.
• Weight: A cane toad can weight up to 4 pounds.
• Habits: The cane toad is more social than other frog and toad species. But like most frogs and toads, it is nocturnal
• Habitat: The cane toad is native to Central and South America. It has also been introduced to Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean Islands, and Australia. It is highly adaptable and lives in a variety of climates.
• Breeding: The cane toad breeds year around. The female can lay 10,000 eggs at one time and as many as 35,000 in one year. The eggs take 3 days to week to hatch. Then it takes about 45 days for the tadpole to morph into a frog. The frogs are about a ½ inch when they fully emerge from a tadpole but quickly grow. The maturity of a cane toad is reached in about 1 year.
• Interesting Facts: The venom of the cane toad is extremely poisonous and can kill most animals. It can make a human extremely sick. Its poison can be squirted at an enemy up to three feet away.