Common Hourglass Tree Frog

Common Hourglass Tree Frog

Polypedates cruciger

Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Udawalawe National Park

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

6 Verified sightings at Udawalawe National Park From 2019 to 2026
85 In all 4 parks
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Hourglass Tree Frog

Polypedates cruciger (commonly known as the Sri Lanka whipping frog or common hour-glass tree-frog) is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Sri Lanka. It has been osbserved as high as 1600 meters above sea level.

This frog can tolerate different habitats, including secondary forest, banana farms, gardens, and buildings. Scientists have not seen this frog in primary forest. Scientists say this frog is not in danger of dying out because of its large range and tolerance to altered habitat.

Scientists used to think frog was conspecific with Polypedates pseudocruciger, which lives in India's Western Ghat mountains. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~40%
2 Minneriya National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~30%
3 Wilpattu National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~30%
4 Udawalawe National Park 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~20%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~30%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Hourglass Tree Frog in Udawalawe National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Hourglass Tree Frog sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 5 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Common Hourglass Tree Frog in Udawalawe National Park?

May

In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Common Hourglass Tree Frog in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, August and December–January, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Hourglass Tree Frog?

Between 3 and 6 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Hourglass Tree Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where does the Common Hourglass Tree Frog sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Hourglass Tree Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Udawalawe National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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