A wetland specialist from the Pacific Northwest. It lives in sunny, shallow marshes in Oregon and Washington, and once ranged into British Columbia. Look for a brown or olive frog with dark spots with lighter centers and ragged edges—like ink blots on paper. Older frogs often show a warm orange-red wash on the belly and the inside of the legs, which gets brighter with age. Their eyes point a bit up and out, so they can watch the surface while staying mostly underwater. Unlike many frogs that hop off into the woods, this one sticks close to water almost all the time, slipping through sedges and grasses like a little swimmer in a green maze.

Home choice is what really makes this frog different. Oregon spotted frogs love warm, still, sunlit water only a few inches deep, especially marshes with open patches and thick bands of reeds or sedges. They bask in the shallows to warm up and move through a network of tiny channels, often using spring-fed spots that stay open even in winter. If you’re comparing frogs, this one is likelier to sit in a bright, open marsh than in a cool, shaded forest pond. The common backyard eastern cottontail—oops, rabbit!—has nothing to do with it, of course, but the more similar red-legged frog tends to be darker, longer-legged, and prefers cooler, woodier places. Field clue for the spotted frog: those pale-centered spots and the rusty glow underneath.

Life starts early in the year. As late winter warms, groups of females lay their eggs together in very shallow, sunny water, building big, bumpy jelly mats that heat up like natural solar panels. The upside: eggs develop faster in the warmth. The risk: if water drops or freezes, the whole mass can be in trouble. Tadpoles hatch and spend spring grazing on algae and tiny bits of plants.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Canada

2021

British Columbia

United States

Official estimate

EX

Extinct locally: California

United States

2021

Oregon, Washington