How to identify it
Small, up to about 5 cm snout-vent length; colour highly variable (usually green or brown; also gray, tan, bronze, blackish or reddish) with irregular dark spots. [1][2]
Dark stripe from the snout to the shoulder; toe tips expanded. [1][2]
Mature males have a dark throat; breeding call is a loud repeated 'kreck-ek'. [1][2]
Tadpoles brown or olive, eyes widely spaced at the margin of the head when seen from above, up to about 44 mm. [1][2]
Compared with the sierran treefrog: Not separable by appearance; genetics and range distinguish them (Montana Field Guide). [1][2]
Compared with the baja california treefrog: No distinct morphological criteria known. [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.
- Sierran treefrog · Pseudacris sierra
- Baja California treefrog · Pseudacris hypochondriaca
Where it lives
Grassland, shrubland, woodland, forest and farmland; on land except in the breeding season. [1][2]
How it behaves
Breeding mostly winter or spring, sometimes summer; calling often happens outside the breeding season and far from breeding sites. [1][2]
Eggs in soft loose clumps of about 10-80, in shallow water; larvae metamorphose in about 2-3 months. [1][2]
After breeding they bask on leaves of broad-leaved shrubs far from water and sometimes climb into trees; migrate up to several hundred metres between breeding and upland sites. [1][2]
Eats beetles, flies, spiders, ants and isopods; inactive in freezing weather and extreme drought. [1][2]
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
- California — amphibian take · 2026 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations (updated July 10, 2026), 14 CCR 5.05/5.60
- Nevada — amphibian take · CR 24-15 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Limits for Noncommercial Collection of Live, Unprotected Reptiles & Amphibians
- Utah — amphibian take, invasive species removal · Reptile and amphibian species classification tables (R657-53), updated Apr. 22, 2026
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.
Where it is found
Southern British Columbia south through the western United States to southern Baja California, east to Montana, Idaho and Nevada; introduced populations on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) and Revillagigedo Island, Alaska, and probably in desert California and Arizona. Montana populations are now attributed to the Sierran treefrog.
Sources
Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.
NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30
NatureServe
- BIOLOGICALSierran Treefrog - Montana Field Guide
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks · reviewed 2026-09-30
Montana Natural Heritage Program / Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks