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Your backyard could save Australia's frogs

By Corowa Free Press

Nov 11, 2026

Sloane's Froglet (Crinia sloanei) is a tiny, brown frog. It is nationally endangered with important populations from Corowa to Mulwala.

Your backyard could hold the key to protecting Australia's threatened frogs, with the Australian Museum asking for help to uncover the species living in your neighbourhood in FrogID Week, from November 6-15.

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With one in five Australian frog species threatened with extinction, scientists are encouraging Australians to record calls using the free FrogID app to help identify where threatened species are surviving.

The call follows new research highlighting the important role private land plays in frog conservation.

Of almost half a million FrogID records from NSW, 86 per cent came from private land and of the 24 threatened frog species examined, 20 had been recorded on privately owned properties.

Dr Jodi Rowley, Australian Museum Lead Scientist for FrogID and Curator of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Biology, said recordings from the community are helping fill important gaps in scientists' knowledge of Australia's frogs.

“We need to know where threatened frogs are surviving if we're going to protect them,” lead scientist, Dr Jodi Rowley said.

“We're not just looking for rare frogs; we want people to record any frogs they hear.

“You don't need to travel into the wilderness to contribute to scientific discovery.”

FrogID is one of the most accessible ways Australians can become citizen scientists with just a smartphone and a few minutes to listen to the frogs around you.

Every recording contributes to our understanding of Australia's biodiversity, and the more people who participate, the more can be discovered.

Sloanes Froglet is just 15–20 mm long and makes a distinctive, short, sharp, metallic-sounding call, a bit like a squeaky hinge.

Now in its ninth year, FrogID has collected more than 1.5 million frog records through its free app.

Last year's FrogID Week recorded 118 species, the highest number ever documented with more than 26,700 verified records collected over 10 days.

This year, scientists are particularly keen to hear from 20 priority frog species, including threatened and rarely recorded frogs, as well as communities where few or no recordings have been submitted.