Smilisca phaeota
Silhouette: Dmitry Bogdanov (vectorized by T. Michael Keesey) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The New Granada cross-banded tree frog (Smilisca phaeota), also known as the masked tree frog, is a species of frog in the family Hylidae found in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, rivers, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, plantations, rural gardens, urban areas, heavily degraded former forests, ponds, and canals and ditches.
Their nickname of masked tree frog comes from the black or dark colored markings that start at their nose and go back along the face toward their ear, covering their eye. Because it goes across their eye, it can help with camouflage, as many predators find prey by their open eyes.
Media related to Smilisca phaeota at Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia →
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Manuel Antonio National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Marino Ballena National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 9 | Cahuita National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 12 | Chirripó National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 13 | Bastimentos Island National Marine Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 14 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 15 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 16 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 17 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | La Paz Waterfall Gardens | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | El Nispero Zoo | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Sea Life Sydney Aquarium | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Wild Life Sydney | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Arenal Eco Zoo | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Monteverde Theme Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Tree Frog sighting in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, based on 47 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 33 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Masked Tree Frog in Piedras Blancas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to October, the lowest months. That is one of Piedras Blancas National Park's wettest months, with about 600 mm of rain against 55 mm in February.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Masked Tree Frog sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
3rd of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Masked Tree Frog sightings, Piedras Blancas National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 50%) and Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Masked Tree Frog is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Piedras Blancas National Park (47 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
