Common toad

Common toad
Bufo bufo

Fact File

Range:	Adults grow to around 8cm long. A shade of brown, green or grey, though some can be very dark and juveniles are sometimes brick red . Lighter-coloured individuals may have darker blotches and dark-coloured toads may have reddish markings. The belly is often pale with dark speckles. They're widespread and common but are thought to be declining. Protected by law from trade/sale.
Photos (clockwise from left): Matt Wilson, Lucy Benyon/Froglife, Oliver Kratz

The common toad is a widespread amphibian found throughout Britain though is absent from Ireland. Common toads prefer deeper water bodies in which to breed, including fish ponds, farm ponds, reservoirs or village ponds. They have rough, ‘warty’ skin and tend to crawl rather than hop. Common toads produce a toxin from a pair of glands on their back which makes them distasteful to would-be predators.

A year in the life...

Spring	Adult toads emerge from their overwintering sites in late spring and start migrating towards the pond on mild, damp evenings; toads tend to return to ancestral breeding ponds along the same routes each year (and are at risk of being killed on roads). Males wait near to the pond and ‘piggy back’ on females as they make their way. Breeding is usually a little later than common frogs; females lay strings of spawn (eggs) wrapped around vegetation. Depending on local weather conditions, two to four weeks later tadpoles will hatch out. The tadpoles are black and may form shoals. After around 16 weeks the tadpoles start to grow back legs, followed by front legs.
Summer	When they have fully absorbed their tails the tadpoles leave the water as tiny toadlets usually after rain. Adult toads spend little time in water and can tolerate much drier conditions than frogs. They may remain in one area for long periods over the summer months, hunting for slugs, spiders and insects at night.
Autumn	Autumn is spent preparing to see out the winter. Some adults make a return migration to overwintering areas.
Winter	Toadlets and adults spend the winter buried down in mud, under compost heaps or amongst dead wood. They do not hibernate as such and may take advantage of milder patches of weather to come out and forage.

Primary threats

Loss of breeding ponds and disruption of migration routes.

More on...
O Toads on Roads
O Frequently asked questions about frogs and toads.
O Check out our toad gallery on Facebook.