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Common frog

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Our most well-known amphibian, the common frog is a regular visitor to garden ponds across the country, where they feast on slugs and snails. In winter, they hibernate in pond mud or under log piles.

Enw gwyddonol

Rana temporaria

Pryd i'w gweld

February to October

Top facts

Stats

Length: 8-13cm
Weight: 22g
Average lifespan: 5-10 years
Common. Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981

Conservation status

Habitats

Ynghylch

Common frogs are amphibians, breeding in ponds during the spring and spending much of the rest of the year feeding in woodland, gardens, hedgerows and tussocky grassland. They feed on a variety of invertebrates and even smaller amphibians. They leave big 'rafts' of spawn in ponds, which eventually hatch into the familiar tadpoles. Look out for them sunbathing in shallow water at the edges of ponds. Common frogs spend the winter tucked away in a sheltered spot, such as the bottom of a log pile, in a mammal burrow or within a compost heap. Some might even spend the winter in the mud at the bottom of a pond.

What to look for

The common frog varies in colour enormously, from green to brown and even red or yellow. It has smooth skin, a dark 'mask' behind the eye and long back legs, covered in dark bands. It hops and jumps rather than walks, and lays spawn in large jelly-like clumps.

Where to find

Found throughout the country, except for some Scottish islands, some of the Isles of Scilly and the Channel Islands.

Roeddech chi yn gwybod?

Male common frogs have 'nuptial pads' on their front feet to help them grip on to females during the breeding season. The male frog will wrap itself around the female and fertilise her eggs as they are produced; a female frog may lay up to 4,000 eggs in one spring! Frogs can spawn as early as December or as late as April depending on the weather. After hatching, tadpoles take about 14 weeks to metamorphose into froglets.