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Cope's gray treefrog

Hyla chrysoscelis · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Cope's gray treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis): 3.2-5.1 cm, up to 6 cm; warty skin, gray to green with black back blotches and a lichen-like pattern. Light spot under each eye. 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.

Cope's gray treefrog on a wooden board
Photo by Sara Causey on Unsplash
Scientific name
Hyla chrysoscelis
Family
Hylidae
In North America
Native
Range
South-central and southeastern US and areas west of the Great Lakes, from Manitoba, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, southern Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland south to eastern Texas, the Gulf Coast and northern Florida; exact boundary with gray treefrog is not precisely known.
Biology

How to identify it

3.2-5.1 cm, up to 6 cm; warty skin, gray to green with black back blotches and a lichen-like pattern. [1][2]

Light spot under each eye. [1][2]

Orange-yellow concealed groin and hindleg surfaces with black mottling. [1][2]

Large toe pads. [1][2]

Physically indistinguishable from gray treefrog; identify by call: Cope's trill is faster and higher pitched. [1][2]

Compared with the gray treefrog: Identical in appearance; slower, more musical trill. [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 cope's gray treefrog before you act. Compared with the gray treefrog: Identical in appearance; slower, more musical trill.[1][2]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Wooded areas and edges, often recently disturbed ground with shrubs and vines, within a few hundred metres of breeding water; rests in tree holes or under bark. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mostly active at dusk and at night in summer; inactive in cold months. [1][2]

Males call from water surface or nearby vegetation; calls are loud trills, often mistaken for a woodpecker. [1][2]

Migrates up to several hundred metres between nonbreeding habitat and breeding pools; breeds spring to early summer. [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

South-central and southeastern US and areas west of the Great Lakes, from Manitoba, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, southern Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland south to eastern Texas, the Gulf Coast and northern Florida; exact boundary with gray treefrog is not precisely known.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    University of Michigan Museum of Zoology