FrogID Week 2023 A Citizen Science Project

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Fri 03 Nov 2023 - Sun 12 Nov 2023

FrogID Week 2023 – A Citizen Science Project

Did you know frogs don’t just croak; they bark and whistle and some even bleat? Spring is here, tadpoles are hatching and the frogs are croaking. Every frog species has its own sound, its own language. That’s where you come in. This isn’t just some small piece of trivia, it’s what frog finders all over the country are recording on apps on their phone. It’s the key to a national citizen science project run by Australian Museum, a project that you and your family can be a part of and there’s more than a few reasons for you to get on board.


You can help save our unique Aussie frog species. There are 246 native species of frogs in Australia. If we don’t look after them, they might not make it. Sadly, we have already lost four of our frog species to extinction, it’s too late for them. The numbers of those we have left are declining, so we have to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late for them too.


Our scientists can’t do it without you. They can’t be everywhere but we can. We don’t go anywhere without our mobile phones these days and that and the FrogID app are the only tools you need to help grow a database of biodiversity records and audio recordings that enable scientists to understand where our frogs are and what they’re up to.


You don’t have to touch the frogs or even see them. That’s not to say you won’t see them but they can be elusive, and I can vouch for that, I hear an abundance of them in our local wetlands but have yet to catch sight of one there. So you’re wondering, how do you do this, if you can’t see them? That’s the beauty of the project, you only have to be able to hear them, and you will, they can be persistent chatters.


The FrogID app is free and that’s what you need to record the sounds the frogs are making. You can download the app from Google Play Store or the Apple Apps Store. Visit the Australian Museum FrogID About page and scroll to the bottom of the page to link through to the app.


You will be part of something huge! In FrogID week last year 4,475 Aussies across the country submitted 17,831 call recordings from which 32,241 frogs across 111 species were verified. What an amazing effort. In 2022 the top five frogs in the country were:

Common Eastern Froglet
Striped Marsh Frog
Peron’s Tree Frog
Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog and
Spotted Marsh Frog.


This is a great opportunity to get the family involved and get the kids interested in an outdoor activity. Take the children to the local lake, wetlands or park, listen for the frogs and record them on your app. I often hear frogs in my local wetlands so I’ll be wandering around the lakes, ponds and marshes there with my FrogID app at the ready.


So what are you waiting for? I loved recording the local frogs and getting to know what species they are. FrogID week 2023 runs from Friday 3rd to Sunday 12th of November. You’ll find all the details you need on the Australian Museum FrogID website.

The great news is you don’t even have to wait for FrogID week. You can download the app and start recording frog sounds right now. Get your Android app from the Google Play Store or your iOS app from the Apple store
If you have a driving interest in frogs and want to keep up with what the FrogID folks are doing follow their Facebook Page.

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#family_friendly
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#frog_identification

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