Citizen scientists capture over 26k frog records across Australia during FrogID Week 2025

  • Author(s)
    Nadiah Roslan
  • Category
    AMRI
  • Published
    25 March 2026
  • Read time
    2 minutes

The eighth annual FrogID Week delivered an invaluable nationwide snapshot of Australia’s frogs, powered by citizen scientists across the country.

The Australian Museum’s annual FrogID Week continues to strengthen one of Australia’s most powerful biodiversity datasets, thanks to the thousands of citizen scientists who record frog calls each November.

Frogs in Focus

Frog populations face growing pressures from disease and climate change, habitat loss and modification, and long-term verified datasets are increasingly essential for detecting trends, informing conservation, and guiding environmental decision-making.

FrogID

The Australian Museum’s free FrogID app is an unparalleled resource for monitoring Australia’s amphibians and raising awareness of their vital role in healthy ecosystems. Listening to thousands of frog calls each week requires extraordinary focus, accuracy and taxonomic knowledge. It is this blend of expert validation, the rapid speed of data collection, and the large scale of community participation that makes this project so important.

A green sign with the words "Frog Pond" is displayed on a wooden fence. The sign shows an image of a frog and some text about frog habitats. Behind the fence is a small pond with grass and trees in the background.
Habitat for Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera) recorded during FrogID Week 2025 by Stephen Hart in Victoria, Australia. Image: Stephen Hart
© Stephen Hart

Recordings are vital

The male of each frog species in Australia has a unique call, and every recording submitted via the FrogID app is an “audio voucher” tied to a precise location which is then reviewed by the sharp ears of the FrogID validation team. This team can identify the frog species through wind, rain, dogs barking, and inevitable cricket sounds. Because calling males advertise from breeding habitat to attract female frogs, each recording not only identifies species with scientific accuracy, but also reveals when and where frogs are breeding, offering insights into their breeding seasons, habitat use and how these are changing over time.

Andrew Trevor-Jones is an older man wearing headphones is sitting in front of a laptop in an office.
Australian Museum FrogID Validator, Andrew Trevor-Jones, listening to FrogID submissions. Image: Devise
© Australian Museum

FrogID Week 2025

From 7-16 November 2025, the Australian Museum hosted the eighth annual FrogID Week event, once again showcasing the extraordinary dedication of Australia’s frog loving community.

Wins

More than 14,600 submissions were received, resulting in over 26,700 expert validated frog records, representing around 2% of the entire national FrogID database. Every day of FrogID Week 2025 saw more than 2,700 new frog records added, contributing to the most rapid collection of frog data anywhere in the world.

A total of 118 frog species were recorded during FrogID Week 2025 - the highest number ever documented in a FrogID Week – representing almost half of all Australian frog species (47%).

On 15 November, participants gathered 3,900 frogs in just 24 hours – the 15th highest recording day in FrogID history, averaging 2.7 frog records per minute!

FrogID Week 2025 infographic summarising participation and frog records across Australia. More than 14,600 recordings were submitted, down 19% from the previous year. A total of 3,871 FrogID app users submitted a frog call, down 21%. More than 26,700 frog records were generated, down 7%, and 118 species were identified, up 5%. Frog records by state and territory were: New South Wales 9,513, down 5%; Queensland 7,145, down 4%; Victoria 6,541, up 157%; Western Australia 1,110, down 22%; Tasmania 991, up 174%; Northern Territory 615, up 122%; South Australia 520, up 1%; and Australian Capital Territory 295, up 70%. The five most recorded frogs Australia-wide were the Common Eastern Froglet (Crinia signifera), Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria/Peroniiella peronii), Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog (Litoria/Drymomantis fallax), Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii) and Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis). The top three species recorded in each state and territory were: New South Wales: Peron’s Tree Frog, Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog and Striped Marsh Frog. Victoria: Common Eastern Froglet, Eastern Banjo Frog and Spotted Marsh Frog. Queensland: Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, Striped Marsh Frog and Graceful Tree Frog. Western Australia: Slender Tree Frog, Rattling Frog and Motorbike Frog. South Australia: Common Eastern Froglet, Eastern Banjo Frog and Spotted Marsh Frog. Tasmania: Common Eastern Froglet, Brown Tree Frog and Eastern Banjo Frog. Northern Territory: Green Tree Frog, Red Tree Frog and Western Laughing Tree Frog. Australian Capital Territory: Spotted Marsh Frog, Eastern Sign-bearing Frog and Striped Marsh Frog. The infographic uses a dark photograph of a green frog as the background, with white, yellow and green text and illustrations. Maps of Australia show records by state and territory. Photographs of the five most recorded frog species appear across the centre. Australian Museum, NSW Government and FrogID logos appear at the bottom. Data is stated as at 12 February 2026.
FrogID Week 2025 results infographic showing more than 14,600 recordings, 26,700 frog records, 3,871 participants and 118 species recorded across Australia, with results by state and territory and the most recorded frog species Image: Australian Museum
© Australian Museum

Endangered Species

High conservation priority species were detected, including six records of the Endangered Giant Burrowing Frog (Heleioporus australiacus), 18 records of the Vulnerable Green and Golden Bell Frog (Litoria/Ranoidea aurea), and 27 records of its close relative, the Vulnerable Southern Bell Frog (Litoria/Ranoidea raniformis).

We also received three records of the recently described Western Desert Tree Frog (Litoria larisonans) from Western Australia, along with three records of the Endangered Loveridge’s Mountain Frog (Philoria loveridgei) and five records of the Vulnerable Sphagnum Frog (Philoria sphagnicola).

FrogID Week 2025 also achieved impressive spatial coverage, with recordings spanning approximately 14% of Australia, surpassing last year’s effort. Importantly, we received frog calls from four Australian grid cells that had no previous FrogID records, helping to fill critical knowledge gaps, particularly in remote or under-sampled regions. Impressively, Tasmania recorded its highest ever number of FrogID Week records, while New South Wales led the nation with 9,513 frog records – 36% of all submissions during the event.

A small green and yellow frog, viewed from the side, sitting on a rock near water. The frog's head is turned towards the viewer and it is croaking. Some green moss and fallen leaves are visible around the rock.
Graceful Tree Frog (Litoria/Chlorohyla gracilenta) recorded by Tommi Mason in Queensland during FrogID Week 2025. Image: Tommi Mason
© Tommi Mason

2025’s Top Frogger!

A big congratulations to Tommi Mason, the winner of our FrogID Week 2025 Top Frogger competition! Tommi secured the top spot by submitting an impressive total of 516 submissions, resulting in 848 frog records. Michele Brook and Ryan Carleton also demonstrated outstanding dedication, placing second and third, respectively. As a passionate contributor to previous FrogID Weeks, we’re thrilled to celebrate Tommi’s well-earned win and are grateful for the incredible contributions from everyone who took part.

Let’s Keep Going

Each year, FrogID Week adds thousands of new, expert-verified records to the long-term FrogID dataset, now recognised as one of Australia’s most comprehensive biodiversity monitoring resources. This data helps scientists, conservationists and land managers detect trends, understand how breeding habitats and seasons are shifting, and make informed decisions to better conserve Australia’s frogs. Whether you recorded from your backyard, local park, farflung landscapes, or simply helped spread the word, thank you for contributing to FrogID Week and advancing Australia’s understanding of its remarkable amphibians.

Save the date: the ninth FrogID Week will take place Friday 6 November to Sunday 15 November 2026.

Nadiah Roslan, Project Coordinator: FrogID, Australian Museum Research Institute.

Water and plants in a pond, surrounded by rocks and greenery, with a wooden fence visible in the background.
Habitat for Spotted Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) recorded during FrogID 2025 by Karen Longmuir in the Australian Capital Territory. Image: Karen Longmuir
© Karen Longmuir

More information:

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the generous donors who have provided funding for the project; our Museum partners, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Museums Victoria, Queensland Museum, South Australian Museum, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and Western Australian Museum; the many Australian Museum staff and volunteers who make up the FrogID team; and, most importantly, the thousands of citizen scientists across Australia who have volunteered their time to record frog calls with FrogID.