Boreal Chorus Frog

Boreal chorus frogs are widely distributed in Yellowstone.

NPS/Jay Fleming

 

Scientific Name

Pseudacris maculata

Identification

• Adults reach 1 to 1.5 inches in length, and females are usually larger than males; newly metamorphosed juveniles are less than 1 inch long.
• Brown, olive, tan, or green (sometimes bicolored) with a prominent black stripe on each side from the nostril through the eye and down the sides to the groin; three dark stripes down the back, often incomplete or broken into blotches.

Habitat

• Common, but seldom seen due to its small size and secretive habits.
• Lives in moist meadows and forests near wetlands.
• Lays eggs in loose, irregular clusters attached to submerged vegetation in quiet water.

Behavior

• Breeds in shallow temporary pools or ponds during the late spring.
• Calls are very conspicuous, resembling the sound of a thumb running along the teeth of a comb.
• Males call and respond, producing a loud and continuous chorus at good breeding sites, from April to early July, depending on elevation and weather.
• Usually call in late afternoon and evening.
• Tadpoles eat aquatic plants; adults mostly eat insects.
• Eaten by fish, predacious aquatic insect larvae, other amphibians, garter snakes, mammals, and birds.