The Oak Toad (Anaxyrus quercicus) is the smallest species of Toad in the US with adults being slightly over an inch in length. It is typically a brownish or reddish toad with darker spots and a bright orange or yellow mid-dorsal stripe. It get its name from inhabiting forested areas, although it can be found in pine or deciduous forests.
It is restricted to the southeastern US from southeastern Virginia down throughout Florida and along the gulf coast to the Mississippi River.
Befitting its diminutive stature, the call of the Oak Toad is the highest pitched of any North American Toad. It is a high pitched peep that is reminiscent of the "peep" of newly hatched chicks.
Here is an individual Oak Toad calling from just outside of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Florida -
Here's a spectrogram of that call showing the descending shape to their whistled peeps. The main part of the call is between 3kHz and 5kHz but there are higher overtones visible on the spectrogram as well.
So if you are driving in a forested area in the Southeast and hear what sounds like a flock of hatched chicks calling from a flooded area, consider yourself lucky! Stop and check out these cute little anurans.
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© Chris Harrison 2018
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