Episode 45: Boreal Chorus Frog – Voice of the Wild

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. A new wild voice in just a moment, so find someplace quiet, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

Said to sound like a fingernail running down the teeth of a plastic comb, this diminutive frog, only an inch and a quarter long, is among the earliest of the spring singers. It begins its chorus, meant to attract a mate, as early as February. They won’t peak in that calling until after March and will extend all the way into May. In the summer, they can be found in the forests and grasslands nearby the ephemeral pools, ponds, and wet prairies where they spent their spring. If you find a tiny frog leaping out of your way in one of these places, look on its back for three dark parallel lines

This is the Boreal chorus frog (Pseudacris maculata) from the tree frog family Hyllidae
Those three lines on the Boreal chorus frog's back are shared with three other frogs in the Pseudacris genus, each of which are residents of Illinois and give a very similar plastic comb sound. Luckily these three frogs have ranges that only barely overlap; so, In Illinois, If you live north of interstate 70, you’re almost certainly going to hear a boreal chorus frog. Between I-70 and Carbondale, you’re likely to find the western chorus frog, and in the southern tip of the state, beyond Carbondale, you can encounter the Upland chorus frog.

Of these three frogs, the boreal chorus frog is the most common and has the most extensive range, running from Illinois, west to Utah, north all the way to Canada’s Yukon, and with an island of range in the east that runs from Montreal and Vermont to Ontario and buffalo. Here’s the boreal chorus frog again.

Thank you to Doug Hines on Xeno-Canto dot org for our frog call, Rob Kanter for his help with this episode, and thank you for tuning in to learn a new wild voice with Illinois Extension.