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Ornate chorus frog

Pseudacris ornata · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

Ornate chorus frog (Pseudacris ornata): Small, 2.5-3.9 cm; gray, green, reddish-brown, sometimes blackish or silvery white. Black mask-like stripe through each eye, often extending along the side of the body. 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.

Scientific name
Pseudacris ornata
Family
Hylidae
In North America
Native
Range
Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, absent from southern peninsular Florida. Not in Canada.
Biology

How to identify it

Small, 2.5-3.9 cm; gray, green, reddish-brown, sometimes blackish or silvery white. [1][2]

Black mask-like stripe through each eye, often extending along the side of the body. [1][2]

Light-bordered black spots on sides and groin; yellow groin and inner thighs. [1][2]

Call is a sharp metallic 'tink' or high peeps about 1-1.5 per second; breeding males have a dark throat. [1][2]

Field knowledge

Where it lives

Sandhills, pine flatwoods and upland pine forests; breeds in small fishless wetlands such as Carolina bays, flooded meadows, ditches and cypress ponds. [1][2]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Secretive and nocturnal, rarely seen outside the winter breeding season (November-March). [1][2]

Burrows into the ground among roots when inactive; migrates between breeding pools and upland habitat. [1][2]

Females lay 10-100 eggs in clusters attached to vegetation; eats small terrestrial invertebrates. [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

Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States, absent from southern peninsular Florida. Not in Canada.

Biology

Sources

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

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia