Status
- Threatened under the federal endangered species act (FESA) and a California state species of special concern1
- Habitat loss, altered, use of pesticides, biocides, and pathogenes
Habitat
- Usually associated with still, permanent bodies of freshwater, such as ponds, lakes, marshes or the slow flowing sections of creeks and streams
Feeding Behavior/Diet
- Both adult and juvenile red-legged frogs are generally nocturnal or crepuscular. Most hunting occurs at night
- Feed on a wide range of invertebrates and small vertebrates including aquatic and terrestrial insects, snails, crustaceans, fishes, worms, tadpoles, small mammals, and smaller frogs (including members of their own species)
- Tadpoles are primarily herbivorous.
Reproduction
- Females lay 750-4,000 eggs in clusters attached to aquatic vegetation, 2 to 6 inches below the water surface.
- Eggs hatch in 2 to 3 weeks.
- Once hatched, the tadpoles generally take between 11-20 weeks to metamorphose2
1 HELIX Environmental Planning Carson Creek Preserve Long Term Management Plan Rev 6/15/2021
2 https://conservation.stanford.edu/science-management/threatened-species/california-red-legged-frog