Natterjack
Epidalea calamita
Also known as: Natterjack Toad
About This Species
A stocky toad of sandy heathland, dunes and coastal grassland, told from other toads by the yellow stripe down its back and its short-legged, mouse-like scuttling gait rather than a hop. It breeds explosively in shallow, often temporary pools on warm spring and summer nights, when males produce an extraordinarily loud, rasping call audible over a kilometre away. Listening for choruses after dusk near known breeding pools in late spring is by far the most reliable way to encounter one.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This species has declined sharply across much of its range and is legally protected in several countries, including strict protection under UK law that makes it an offence to disturb, capture or handle individuals or damage their breeding sites without a licence.
- Watch and listen from the edge of breeding pools without wading in or using torches directly on calling males for extended periods, and never move individuals between sites, since this can spread disease between isolated populations.
LCAmphibiaAnuraBufonidae
Seasonal Activity
146,155 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Amphibia
- Order
- Anura
- Family
- Bufonidae
Photo
(c) Tânia Araújo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Tânia Araújo
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.