Eastern Treefrog
Hyla orientalis
A harmless treefrog of most of Georgia. In the dry far south-east it is replaced by the yellow-lemon treefrog.
Overview
What is Eastern Treefrog
The eastern treefrog (Hyla orientalis) is a harmless treefrog found through most of Georgia, except the dry far south-east. Adults are usually about 3–5 cm from snout to vent. It is not dangerous to people. Look for it in open woodland, shrub, gardens and near water — not in the Vashlovani steppe. It is common in the Colchic lowlands. Named sites include Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi, Borjomi, Tbilisi, Kvareli and Lagodekhi. The 2026 Georgian checklist treats it as a distinct species; DNA samples are from Chili Lake in Tbilisi and the Tskordza area, and the checklist figure is Gaghma Dvabzu in Guria. In the far south-east a treefrog is usually the yellow-lemon treefrog (Hyla savignyi). Taxonomic note: older books often listed it as Hyla arborea or Hyla arborea schelkownikowi. The checklist treats it as a candidate species — the split from European H. arborea rests mainly on mitochondrial DNA and still needs genomic checks. That does not mean it is rare in Georgia. The yellow-lemon treefrog is biologically confirmed in the checklist. In eastern Georgia the two treefrogs meet, including around Telavi; gene flow across that contact zone is not fully resolved.
Last updated
Gallery
Eastern Treefrog in photos
Photo: Titouan Roguet
Tskaltsminda, Guria, Georgia
Photo: SteveM4560
Dobri Dol, Bulgaria
Photo: SteveM4560
Dobri Dol, Bulgaria
Identification
How to identify Eastern Treefrog
A small, smooth-skinned treefrog with sticky pads on the toe tips. In Georgia it is most often confused with the yellow-lemon treefrog; place is often more reliable than colour.
- 01
The body is short and the skin is smooth. Rounded sticky pads on the toe tips separate a treefrog from marsh frogs and toads. Adults are usually about 3–5 cm from snout to vent.
- 02
The back is usually green, but it can turn grey or brown. Colour changes with temperature and background. The belly is usually pale — white or yellowish. A dark side stripe often forms a loop (hip sinus) at the groin; that stripe alone is unreliable, because some eastern treefrogs lack the loop and some yellow-lemon treefrogs show one.
- 03
The eyes are large and the pupil is horizontal. The eardrum is visible and smaller than the eye. Males have a vocal sac on the throat. These marks help, but they are not enough on their own to split the two Georgian treefrogs.
- 04
The yellow-lemon treefrog (Hyla savignyi) is the same genus. It lives in drier, less forested country south-east of Tbilisi. The eastern treefrog occupies most of the rest of Georgia — woodland and more humid ground. The breeding call differs. In the contact zone, including around Telavi, appearance can be intermediate.
- 05
The marsh frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) is larger, stays in water and lacks sticky toe pads. Toads have warty skin and do not climb like treefrogs.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia this is a treefrog of woodland and humid country, not of dry steppe. Look for it in open broadleaf or mixed forest, shrub, gardens and near water — ponds, pools, lake edges or slow streams. It usually avoids dense dark forest. The 1996 review places it in forested and farmed landscapes, especially orchards, across almost all of Georgia except the far south-east. Named sites include the Black Sea coast (Batumi, Kobuleti, Poti), Kutaisi, the Borjomi–Bakuriani area, the Tbilisi district (Lisi Lake, Kojori, Tskneti), Kvareli and Lagodekhi. The 2026 DNA samples are from Chili Lake (Tbilisi) and the Tskordza area; the figure locality is Gaghma Dvabzu in Guria. In Lower Svaneti around Lentekhi, breeding calls were recorded in 2022 and the authors treat the frogs as H. orientalis on call and range. This atlas marks every region, including Kakheti, where the contact zone lies; in the dry Iori valley and Vashlovani a treefrog is more likely H. savignyi. The Telavi population shows mixed characters and is not treated here as pure either species. The upper elevation in Georgia is not established on this page. Do not expect it on the alpine belt of the Greater Caucasus. The range continues in the North Caucasus, Anatolia and around the Black Sea.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. At species level, adults take invertebrates, mainly insects. Tadpoles eat algae and plant debris.
Behavior
By day it often sits on leaves or shrubs, or hides. Sticky pads on the toe tips let it climb vegetation. It is more active at dusk and at night. It breeds in small, mostly still water with dense herb cover. In the Borjomi canyon it belongs to the open-country breeding group. Breeding males call; the call differs from that of the yellow-lemon treefrog. In Lower Svaneti calling was recorded in spring and increased toward late May — that is one local observation, not a national calendar. A full seasonal calendar for Georgia is not given here. If you find one, leave it where it is. Do not pick it up or move it between water bodies. Wash your hands after any contact. It is not a medical risk to people.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assesses it as Least Concern. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Local numbers can still fall if breeding pools dry or become polluted. Candidate status in the checklist is a taxonomic note, not a conservation category. The contact zone with H. savignyi in eastern Georgia is not fully studied.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Eastern Treefrog.
Yes. The 2026 checklist treats it as a species. DNA samples are from Tbilisi and Tskordza. The figure is Gaghma Dvabzu.
In most regions — from Colchis through Kartli to the more humid parts of Kakheti. Do not expect it in the Vashlovani steppe or the dry Iori valley; that is yellow-lemon treefrog country.
No. It has no venom and is harmless to people. Do not pick it up. Wash your hands after any contact.
A small green or grey frog with smooth skin and sticky pads on the toes. In Georgia, place matters: this is the woodland and humid-country treefrog.
Both are treefrogs. Colour is not reliable. Range is more useful: this species occupies most of Georgia; the yellow-lemon treefrog is the dry country south-east of Tbilisi. In the contact zone they can look alike.
Adults are usually about 3–5 cm from snout to vent. Separate Georgian measurements are not given on this page.
Adults take invertebrates, mainly insects. There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Tadpoles eat algae.
The checklist lists it as a separate species, but the split from H. arborea has not been checked enough with multilocus genomic data. That is a taxonomic note; it does not mean the frog is rare in Georgia.
Watch it and leave it where it is. Do not pick it up. It is not a medical risk to people.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Tarkhnishvili 1996 — The distribution and ecology of the amphibians of Georgia and the Caucasus
- Tarkhnishvili 1993 — Anurans of Borjomi Canyon
- Marushchak et al. 2022 — Upper Tskhenistskali basin (Lower Svanetia)
- Stöck et al. 2008 — Mitochondrial and nuclear phylogeny of circum-Mediterranean tree frogs
- Gvoždík et al. 2008 — Geographic morphological variation in Hyla arborea and Hyla savignyi
- Kaya & Simmons 1999 — Advertisement calls of Hyla arborea and Hyla savignyi in Turkey
- Frost — Amphibian Species of the World (Hyla orientalis)
- AmphibiaWeb — Hyla orientalis
- IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 2022 — Hyla orientalis
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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