Green and Golden Bell Frog

Litoria aurea

The Green and Golden Bell Frog is a distinctive bright emerald-green frog reaching 70 mm in length (males) and 100mm (females). The frog has large blotches ranging from brown to rich golden-bronze and a yellowish stripe running from behind the eye to the lower back. The hind toes of the frog are almost fully webbed but the fingers of the front feet lack webbing. They have a four-part call that sounds a bit like a motor bike changing gears: craw-awk, crawk, crok, crok. (Billabong Zoo, Port Macquarie, NSW 2444 is home to 2 other species of frogs: Magnificent Tree Frog and the Green Tree Frog.

Distribution and habitat

Green and Golden Bell Frogs were one of the most common species in south-eastern Australia and abundant in NSW before their rapid and continuous decline. They occur mainly along coastal lowland areas in permanent, open-water swamps or ponds in colonies of usually less than 20 adults.

Diet

These frogs will eat almost anything that moves and will fit in their mouths, mainly insects, but will also feed on larger prey such as worms and mice even other frogs of the same species.
Life expectancy and breeding'

They breed during late winter to early autumn with a peak around January -February. Males reach sexual maturity at 9-12 months and females at 2 years. When ready to spawn, the female deposits her eggs and the male fertilises them externally. Females lay 5,000 eggs on average and two days later the tadpoles hatch out. They can live from 10-15 years in captivity but the lifespan in the wild has not been determined.