Gray Treefrog (Hyla Versicolor)

Gray Treefrog getting ready to sing the song of his people.

This Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor) was crawling up the face of a rock next to a nearby pond so he could get into a good spot to look for a girlfriend.

The second picture shows him a few minutes later inflating his vocal sack & serenading the lady frogs.

The vocal sack apparently amplifies the trilling sound he makes.  Pretty nifty.  He’s got a built in amplifier.

According to the Virginia Herpetological Society website, Hyla is Greek for “belonging to the woods” & versicolor is Latin for varied color. 

Not surprisingly given their common name of Gray Treefrog, they are often gray, but, not surprisingly given their scientific name of versicolor, can also be brown like this one, or a sort of odd, but pretty, 1950s kitchen appliance blueish green.  

They gather near water during breeding season, but hang out in trees in the woods the rest of the year. Which presumably explains the Hyla portion of their scientific name.

They’re very cute little frogs at about 1.5-2” (3-5 cm). I’m looking forward to them making their appearance again once the temperatures are a bit warmer here.

Virginia. Photos taken of wild critters where I find them. No posing, pestering, or baiting, & aiming to leave no trace. Corrections welcome to my critter IDs. Olympus EM1 Mark II, M.Zuiko ED 60mm f2.8 Macro, Fenix Headlamp & Focusing Lights, Godox TT350o Flash. DIY Diffuser. Handheld.