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Boreal chorus frog

Pseudacris maculata · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata): Small: maximum snout-vent length about 37 mm; a dark stripe or mask runs from the snout through the eye to the groin. Back is cream, gray, brown, reddish or green, typically with three green, brown or gray stripes or rows of spots down the back and one row on each side. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

Boreal chorus frog — verified North Ground species photograph
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Scientific name
Pseudacris maculata
Family
Hylidae
In North America
Native
Range
Large parts of Canada and the western and north-central US, from Great Bear Lake (Northwest Territories) and northern Ontario south to Arizona, New Mexico, northern Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois, with disjunct populations in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, northern New York and northwestern Vermont; to about 3,670 m.
Biology

How to identify it

Small: maximum snout-vent length about 37 mm; a dark stripe or mask runs from the snout through the eye to the groin. [1][2]

Back is cream, gray, brown, reddish or green, typically with three green, brown or gray stripes or rows of spots down the back and one row on each side. [1][2]

Toes have minute disks and little webbing; belly cream, possibly with a few small black spots. [1][2]

Call is a stuttering 'preeep' rising in pitch, likened to running a finger over the teeth of a comb; audible up to about 400 m. [1][2]

Compared with the sierran treefrog: Adults of other Montana frogs and toads are much larger with webbed hind feet; only the Sierran treefrog is similarly small, and its range does not overlap. [1][2]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a boreal chorus frog before you act. Compared with the sierran treefrog: Adults of other Montana frogs and toads are much larger with webbed hind feet; only the Sierran treefrog is similarly small, and its range does not overlap.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Near quiet, permanent or temporary water: marshes, rain pools, snowmelt pools, bog and beaver ponds, marshy lake edges, in grassland, shrubland and forest parkland. [1][2]

Occurs from lowlands to alpine. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Males begin calling late March or April in lowlands (typically when air temperature is above 10 C) and chorus through spring and early summer; calling may resume after heavy rain. [1][2]

Emerges from winter sites typically in March in lowlands (later in mountains); freeze-tolerant and overwinters under vegetation, in rodent burrows or rock and log crevices. [1][2]

Adults are in water mainly during breeding; otherwise found in damp grassy or marshy areas, usually within 100 m (up to about 500 m) of water; seasonal movements around 250 m. [1][2]

Eggs are laid in loose clusters of 7-190 attached to submerged vegetation. [1][2]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

Large parts of Canada and the western and north-central US, from Great Bear Lake (Northwest Territories) and northern Ontario south to Arizona, New Mexico, northern Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois, with disjunct populations in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, northern New York and northwestern Vermont; to about 3,670 m.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks