By early May, adult green tree frogs make their presence known.
During the day the frogs crouch motionless in vegetation in and around water, relying on their coloration to protect them from predators. Each evening the nocturnal choruses of the males resound throughout the swamp. Their chorus has been compared to the sound of cowbells, and from early May to early August, when the temperature is above 68°F, the males chorus in hopes of attracting a female.
After mating, females propel the eggs backwards, where they adhere to floating vegetation. Within 2 to 3 days the eggs hatch and the young larvae are nothing more then a head with a strong muscular tail.
Two common names have been applied to larval frogs: tadpole, which means toad's head, and pollywog, which means wiggling head. The green tree frog tadpole stage lasts from 4 to 6 weeks. During this time numerous internal and external changes take place as the tadpole metamorphoses into an adult.
By mid-August, the breeding pond is silent, the adults have gone, and the developing tadpoles and subadults continue to eat and grow. By autumn the young frogs have moved into grass and woodlands surrounding the breeding area to overwinter.
It takes a year for green tree frogs to reach sexual maturity, so by late summer of the following year the young frogs will be able to join the adults in the annual chorus.