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| Fact File |
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- Adults can reach 15cm, nose to
tail.
- The skin is black or dark brown
and has a rough, 'warty' appearance. Males have a
large jagged crest during the spring but it is much
less pronounced during the rest of the year.
- Irregular black blotches cover
the bright orange belly. 'Warts' along the side of
the body may have white tips. Males have a white
flash on the tail and females a yellow or orange
one.
- Widespread but distribution is
patchy.
- Great crested newts have full legal
protection under UK law making it an offence to
kill, injure, capture, disturb or sell them or to
damage or destroy their habitats.
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Photos by Jules Howard/Froglife (left) and Sivi
Sivanesan/Froglife (right) |
Great crested newts are widely distributed throughout Britain
but this distribution is extremely patchy; they’re absent from
Ireland and have disappeared from many sites across Europe. They
are the largest of our native newt species. During the breeding
season males develop a jagged crest which has a break at the
base of the tail and females take on a ‘bulky’ appearance.
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Adult newts emerge from their overwintering sites in
spring (March/April) and head to a pond to breed. Males
perform an elaborate courtship dance before the eggs are
laid. Females lay individual eggs on plant leaves and
carefully wrap them up to protect them. Depending on
local weather conditions, two to four weeks later larvae
(sometimes called newt tadpoles) will hatch out. The
larvae have feathery gills around the head,
distinguishing them from frog and toad tadpoles; they
have a mottled appearance and a tiny filament at the end
of the tail. A couple of months after they hatch the
larvae start to grow their front legs (again, different
from frogs and toads), followed by the back legs. At
this time of year adult newts will hang around in and
around the pond and will hunt frog tadpoles. |
| When the larvae have fully absorbed their gills
they leave the water as newtlets (or efts), around
August. |
| Autumn is spent preparing for winter. Newts feed on
various invertebrates. |
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Great crested newts spend the winter sheltering under
rocks, in compost heaps or buried down in mud. They
don’t hibernate as such, and may take advantage of
milder patches of weather to come out and forage. |
Loss of ponds and intensification of agriculture.
The Great Crested Newt Conservation Handbook
Frequently asked questions about
newts.
Check out our
great crested newt
gallery on Facebook.
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