Tree Frogs

Adults are 2 to 4 inches long with smooth to pebbly-looking or granular moist skin, relatively short snouts, and large prominent toe pads.

Select a frog or toad below for more detailed information.

Cope's Gray Treefrog

• Skin pebbly to granular
• Color dark green to pale green, gray, white, or brownish, with or without a dark splotch on the back and often with a light-colored area below each eye
• The hidden surface of each inner thigh is colorfully marked with irregular yellow to orange spots
• Best identified by voice! Breeding choruses can be heard from April through mid-August
• Individual males often call from high in the trees, away from the breeding ponds, from early spring into fall

Eastern Gray Treefrog

• Skin pebbly to granular
• Color dark green to pale green, gray, white, or brownish, with or without a dark splotch on the back and often with a light-colored area below each eye
• The hidden surface of each inner thigh is colorfully marked with irregular yellow to orange spots
• Identical to Cope’s Gray Treefrog and best identified by voice!
• Breeding choruses can be heard from mid-April through early August
• Individual males may call from high in the trees, away from the breeding ponds, from early spring into fall.

Bird-voiced Treefrog

• Skin pebbly to slightly granular
• Color dark green to pale green, gray, white, or brownish, with or without a dark splotch on the back and often with a light-colored area below each eye
• The hidden surface of each inner thigh is marked with irregular pale green spots
• Very similar to Cope’s Gray Treefrog unless you can catch one and look at the thighs
• Best identified by voice! Breeding choruses are heard from April through July, mostly in the evening but sometimes also during the afternoon immediately following summer rainstorms
• Individual males may call from high in the trees, away from the breeding ponds, from early spring into fall

Hickman Hybrid

• Nearly identical to Bird-voiced Treefrog or Cope’s Gray Treefrog but the inner thigh color ranges from pale yellow or greenish-yellow
• Can be identified only by voice. Found only in areas where both parent species often call in the same place, but it is unusual to hear more than one or two hybrids in a large chorus of treefrogs.

Barking Treefrog

• Skin is often slightly pebbly, usually light green to brownish, with a wide, irregular yellowish to whitish band or row of spots along each side of the body
• Some have numerous round to oval brown spots covering the back, but these can disappear completely as a frog changes color
• Usually has a heavier build than the Green Treefrog
• Breeding choruses can be heard from mid-May through July during periods of wet weather when natural sinkhole ponds in open fields and pastures are filled with rainwater.

Green Treefrog

• Skin nearly smooth
• Usually bright green with a narrow white to yellowish stripe on each side of the body
• Some individuals also have scattered golden flecks or spots on the back
• Usually a bit more slender in build than the Barking Treefrog.
• Breeding choruses can be heard from May through August, mostly in the evening but sometimes also during the afternoon following summer rainstorms.