Hyla Diversity

Kelly and I went in search of Treefrogs (Hyla) on Sunday night. There are ten Hyla species in North America, and seven species can be found in Okaloosa County, FL. We didn't get to bed until 4:30, but we found all seven, thanks to Kelly's expertise with habitat and frog calls.

H. squirella - Squirrel Treefrog

These treefrogs were the easiest to find since they were all over the apartment. These guys are fairly variable.

H. femoralis - Pine Woods Treefrog

These guys were pretty abundant at the Oak Toad breeding pond. You can see the orange spots on the thigh of the frog in the second picture.

H. andersonii - Pine Barrens Treefrog

This was the last treefrog of the night and was maybe the best of all. The Pine Barrens is Kelly's favorite treefrog, and after finding it, I can see why. There are several disjunct populations, with the main population up in the New Jersey pine barrens. Finding this frog took the most work, since it was late and they were not calling on their own. Added to that, they live in densely brushy wetlands. Kelly was able to get this individual to respond to his call imitation every five minutes or so, and we used that to find him in the middle of a shrub.

H. cinerea - Green Treefrog

These guys were also around the apartment, but were not as common as the Squirrel Treefrogs.

H. chrysoscelis - Cope's Gray Treefrog

We found an individual at the Oak Toad breeding pond.

H. avivoca - Bird-voiced Treefrog

This was the most fun treefrog to track down. Apparently, they like to perch on trees in swamps over deep water. This frog has an amazing song and is well named. After wading out chest deep in the swamp, Kelly found one singing about ten feet above the water. It was an incredible setting, to be in a Florida swamp after midnight.

H. gratiosa - Barking Treefrog

This large treefrog was a lot of fun. They sing while floating on the surface of the water.