© 2025 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Discover Nature: Spring Peepers

A greenish-tan-yellow spring peeper frog clings to the stem of a plant as its inflated vocal sac protrudes from its lower jaw.
A camouflaged spring peeper clings to the stem of a plant as its inflated vocal sac protrudes from below its jaw. Listen for the calls of spring peepers this week, as these harbingers of spring emerge and congregate near swampy ponds, pools, and wetlands

This week on Discover Nature take a walk outside, and you may hear one of the first serenades of spring on the horizon.

   

 

Spring peepers have spent the winter burrowed under soil – a natural antifreeze in their blood keeping them thawed.  

 

One of the first species to begin calling in the spring, this small, slender frog can appear pink, gray, tan, or brown, with a dark ‘X’ on its back.

 

Roughly one-inch in length, they breed in fishless ponds, streams and swamps with thick undergrowth.  

 

Males fertilize eggs as females lay them.  Eggs attach to vegetation in shallow water, and hatch in three-to-four days.  Tadpoles metamorphosize two months later.  

 

Though common in Missouri, this species needs access to ephemeral, swampy ponds and pools in woodlands, and has become threatened in states where wetland habitat has shrunk.

 

Learn more about spring peepers and other frogs emerging this spring with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide

 

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation. 

Kyle Felling’s work at KBIA spans more than three decades. In 2025, he became KBIA and KMUC's Station Manager. He began volunteering at the station while he was a Political Science student at the University of Missouri. After being hired as a full-time announcer, he served as the long-time local host of NPR’s All Things Considered on KBIA, and was Music Director for a number of years. Starting in 2010, Kyle became KBIA’s Program Director, overseeing on-air programming and operations while training and supervising the station’s on-air staff. During that period, KBIA regularly ranked among the top stations in the Columbia market, and among the most listened to stations in the country. He was instrumental in the launch of KBIA’s sister station, Classical 90.5 FM in 2015, and helped to build it into a strong community resource for classical music. Kyle has also worked as an instructor in the MU School of Journalism, training the next generation of journalists and strategic communicators. In his spare time, he enjoys playing competitive pinball, reading comic books and Joan Didion, watching the Kansas City Chiefs, and listening to Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band.
Related Content