American bullfrog Facts for Kids
Lithobates catesbeianus · lih-THOB-uh-teez kates-bee-AY-nus
Named for its deep, bellowing call, like a bull's.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 1.8 lb800 g1
- 📏 3.5 to 8 in9 to 20 cm2 long
- 🎂 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1
- 🍽️ meat
- Doing fine (Least Concern)
The American bullfrog is a big frog. Its call is deep and loud, like a bull. It lives in ponds and swims well with its webbed feet.
A bullfrog sits at the water's edge and catches insects and other small animals that come near. The round circle behind each eye is its eardrum, and a male's eardrum is bigger than his eye. A bullfrog tadpole may spend a winter or more as a tadpole before it grows legs.
The American bullfrog is the largest frog in North America. Like other frogs, it breathes partly through its skin, and in winter it rests on the bottom of a pond. Males call at night in summer, and their deep voices carry across the water. Bullfrogs have been brought to places far from their home, where they eat local frogs and crowd them out, so wildlife managers in some areas work to keep their numbers down.
How big is a American bullfrog?
American bullfrog in numbers
| Length | 3.5 to 8 in9 to 20 cm2body length of the frog (legs not counted) |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 1.8 lb800 g1maximum |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 8 to 10 years8 to 10 years1in the wild |
| What it eats | insects, snails, worms, small fish and other frogs |
| Where it lives | ponds, lakes and slow rivers in eastern North America, and now in other places too |
| What kind | Amphibians |
| Is it in danger? | Doing fine (Least Concern)3 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- The round circle behind its eye is its eardrum.
- A bullfrog breathes partly through its skin.
- Its tadpole may stay a tadpole through a whole winter or more.
Compare the American bullfrog
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Books about the American bullfrog, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the American bullfrog for free.
Where these numbers come from
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological Risk Screening Summary (quoting GISD 2009), checked 30 October 2026.
- National Park Service, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 30 October 2026.
- Wikidata, American bullfrog (Q4667413), checked 30 October 2026.