Gray Tree Frog in Its Green Coat

 When an animal has a specific color in its name, you expect it to be that color, but that isn't always the case. Take, for example, the Gray Tree Frog. This small climbing frog can be brownish-gray, bright green or any shade in between those two extremes. In fact, its Latin name is Hyla versicolor  (or Dryophytes versicolor) which means many colored tree frog or changing color tree frog. 

Gray Tree Frog (Hyla versicolor/ Dryophytes versicolor)
from WhatLivesinMyYard.Blogspot.com
Photo: Brad Sylvester, all rights reserved

Tree frogs are climbers. They climb trees (and houses) using the sticky pads found on the end of each of their toes. It is thought that they climb to escape predators like snakes which mostly live on the ground in the range of the Gray Tree Frog. The toe pads provide a suction-cup adhesion that lets them stick to smooth surfaces. For rougher surfaces, the tree frog can still climb by wrapping its legs around to the sides or back of smaller branches and gripping. The gripping pressure is created by using its muscles to provide opposing pressure to both sides of the branch. By using both gripping pressure and suction cup adhesion, the gray tree frog is able to climb faster than it could using either one of the methods alone.

Tree frogs mate and lay eggs in the water of ponds or vernal pools. The eggs will be attached to underwater plants. They will hatch as tadpoles and live in the water until they grow legs and can live on land. Once they leave the water, they spend most of their time in trees, except when hibernating in the winter. They tend to hibernate under leaf litter or hidden under tree roots. During the active warmer months, they may hide in the deep crevices of tree bark. They are usually found in moist environments.

Gray Tree Frog with Suction Cup Toes
Photo: Brad Sylvester, all rights reserved

During a rain, they may move from place to place without fear of drying out. That's why they're most often seen on rainy evenings. The Gray Tree Frog shown in these photos was found right next to my front door on the siding of my house during a light rain when I came home after dark in early August.

The tree frog calls out by inflating its throat like a big bubble and using the released air to create a surprisingly loud trilling sound. 

Gray Tree Frog tadpoles mostly eat plant matter and detritus in the water. Once they leave the water as adults, they are insectivores. They'll eat most small insects that can be swallowed in one gulp such as ants, crickets, beetles, flies, and even small moths.

The Gray Tree Frog measures 1-2 inches long as an adult. They have a distinctly bumpy skin unlike some of the smoother frog species.

Taxonomy of the Gray Tree Frog

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumChordata

ClassAmphibia

OrderAnura

FamilyHylidae

GenusDryophytes

SpeciesDryophytes versicolor

Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) vs. Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) Identification

Hairy Woodpeckers and Downy Woodpeckers are common visitors in my yard, in New England, and throughout much of the United States. They are found as far north as Alaska and Canada and south to Central America. They primarily live in forests. They have also adapted to suburban areas as well as long as there is an abundance of trees around. like most woodpeckers, the hairy Woodpecker eats insects that it finds in the back or digs out of the wood of trees. They are also attracted to suet feeders and bird feeders containing nuts or peanuts. 

Size Difference between Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

The Hairy Woodpecker is often seen in the same areas as the similar Downy Woodpecker. They can be difficult to tell apart at first glance. If you see them side by side, the Hairy Woodpecker is larger, measuring as much as 10 inches long to the tip of the tail. The Downy Woodpecker, on the hand, only reaches about 6.75" long. 

Beak Length Difference between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers

The bill of the Hairy Woodpecker is also quite a bit longer than the shorter bill of the Downy Woodpecker. If the beak of the hairy Woodpecker is just about the same length as its head, while the Downy Woodpecker's beak is less than half the length of its head. In the video of the Hairy Woodpecker below, taken in my yard, you can see the length of the beak compared to the length of the head. This is perhaps an easier way to identify whether the bird is a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker when you don't have both together to compare overall size. 

Hairy Woodpecker searching for food in a birch tree.

Pecking Rhythm Difference Between Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers

Notice the rhythm and speed of the pecking in the video as well. The hairy Woodpecker tends to have a slower "drumbeat" than the Downy Woodpecker. This can be difficult to determine if you only have one of these two pecking and can't compare them directly, but the Downy Woodpecker's pecking is often so fast that you can't even count the individual beats. 

Both of these two woodpecker species are black and white with a white stripe down the middle of their back. In both species, if you see a red patch on the back of the head, then you know that it's a male bird.

Woodpecker Diet

While both are largely insectivores, they will eat nuts and other foods high in fats. They search out calorie dense foods like suet, peanut butter, or nuts when visiting backyard bird feeders. They use their sharp pointed toes to cling to vertical surfaces and will even hang upside down in order to reach food sources.  They use their tails to brace themselves against that surface to give them leverage to peck forcefully into the wood and bark of a tree.

Taxonomy of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers

You will notice from the title of this post that these two woodpeckers are not only different species, but also different genera. Despite their very similar appearance and behaviors, they are not that closely related. You have to go all the way back to Family classification find common lineage.

Hairy Woodpecker

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Piciformes

Family Picidae

Genus: leuconotopicus

Species: Leuconotpicus villosus

Downy Woodpecker

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Piciformes

Family Picidae

Genus: Dryobates

Species: Dryobates pubescens