Blanchard's Cricket Frog Bioblitz
This year, join the MWPARC Cricket Frog Task Team in updating the current status of Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs (Acris blanchardi). Around 50 years ago, we began to observe a decline of Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs at the edges of their range across the Midwestern US. They are currently a Midwest Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Fortunately, recent observations suggest the Blanchard’s Cricket Frog decline may have stopped and they have begun to recolonize areas in their historic range.
We need your help to document the current distribution of Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs!
How can you help?
Take photos and audio recordings of Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs this summer and upload them to either iNaturalist (inaturalist.org) or HerpMapper (herpmapper.org). If you use iNaturalist, join our project (https://tinyurl.com/BCFiNat) and give MWPARC permission to access location data. You can also email observations, with GPS coordinates and observation date, to parcmidwest@gmail.com
Where can you find Blanchard's Cricket Frogs?
This map shows the historic range of Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs in yellow and “priority areas” for observations in red. We are asking for observations from across the United States; especially from areas depicted in red, where the status of Blanchard's Cricket Frogs is unknown and we need more information!!
Recognizing Blanchard's Cricket Frogs
Blanchard’s Cricket Frogs can often be found along the edge of streams, lakes, and ponds. Adults are about the size of a quarter, have small bumps, and their color ranges from dark charcoal to bright green (see below). They sometimes have a stripe on their back that ranges in color from rusty-red to bright-green. Recent metamorphs emerge in July and are smaller than a penny. They are known for leaping far distances to escape danger.
The call of the cricket frog is often described like the rattling of marbles. Click the play button below to hear it!
You can learn more at: https://tinyurl.com/WIBCF
