Range in California: Green
Click the map for a guide
to the other subspecies.
Listen to this toad:
One short call
More sounds of
Bufo boreas boreas
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Adult, Humboldt County |
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Adult male, Thurston County, Washington, courtesy of Jim Lynch, Ft. Lewis Dept. of Fish and Wildlife |
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Juvenile, Humboldt County |
Juvenile, Deschutes County, Oregon |
Juvenile, Deschutes County, Oregon |
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Adults in amplexus, Thurston County, Washington, courtesy of Jim Lynch, Ft. Lewis Dept. of Fish and Wildlife |
Nuptial pad on front foot of adult male, Thurston County, Washington, courtesy of Jim Lynch, Ft. Lewis Dept. of Fish and Wildlife |
Tadpole, Deschutes County, Oregon |
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Tadpole, Deschutes County, Oregon |
Habitat, temporary pools on coastal plain, Humboldt County |
Habitat, Humboldt County coast
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More pictures of this toad and its habitat in the Nortwest are available on our Northwest Herps page.
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Description |
| Size |
| Adults grow to 2 - 5 inches from snout to vent ( 5.1 - 12.7 cm). |
| Appearance |
| Large and robust with dry, warty skin. No cranial crests. Oval parotoid glands. Tarsal fold is well-developed. Pupils are horizontal. Greenish, tan, reddish brown, dusky gray, and yellow above. Light-colored stripe down the middle of the back. Warts are often rusty and set on dark blotches. Much dark blotching above and below, becoming all dark at times. More blotched below than B. b. halophilus. Males are usually less blotched than females and have smoother skin. Male and female throats are pale. Moves by walking, instead of hopping. Young have no dorsal stripe immediately after transformation. |
| Voice (Listen) |
Male Boreal Toads do not have a pronounced vocal sac. Their call has been described as a high-pitched plinking sound, like the peeping of a chick, repeated seveal times. The sound of a group of males calling has been compared to the sound of a distant flock of geese.
Calls are produced at night and during the day during the short breeding season. Males make their call primarily when they are in close contact with other males. These calls are considered encounter or aggressive calls serving to maintain territory, and release calls serving to gain release from another male, rather than advertisement calls to attract females. The calls may also serve other purposes, as a lone male toad has been observed calling. 1 It is also likely that female toads are attracted to the sounds of a group of male encounter calls, in which case they might serve as advertisement calls. Unreceptive females may also produce a release call. |
| Behavior |
| Nocturnally active, remaining underground in the daytime, but occasionally seen moving about in daylight or resting at the edge of breeding pools in the breeding season. Parotoid glands and warts can secrete a poison to deter some predators. Others are immune, and will consume toads |
| Diet |
| Diet consists of a wide variety of invertebrates. Typical of most frogs, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. |
| Reproduction |
| Mating and egg-laying occurs from January to early July, depending on elevation, in still pools, ponds, or at the shallow edges of lakes. Fertilization is external. Eggs are laid in two long strings and hatch in 3 to 10 days. Tadpoles can often be seen in large schools. Tadpoles are dark brown, growing to about 1 inch before metamorphosing in late summer or early fall. Large numbers of metamorph toads can usually be seen in late summer along the shore. |
| Range |
| Occurs across northcentral California, east through Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, and north all the way to southern Alaska. From sea level to over 11,800 ft. (3,600 m.) |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits a variety of habitats - marshes, springs, creeks, small lakes, meadows, woodlands, forests, desert riparian areas. |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Two subspecies of Bufo boreas are recognized in California - Bufo boreas boreas, and Bufo boreas halophilus.
This toad has been renamed Anaxyrus boreas boreas, but this nomenclature is not yet standard. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| Bufo boreas is becoming uncommon in many areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains and other areas, probably due to environmental changes caused by habitat loss (especially wetlands.) Toads are also slow-moving and are frequently run over by traffic as they cross roads. |
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Taxonomy |
| Family |
Bufonidae |
True Toads |
| Genus |
Bufo |
True Toads |
| Species |
boreas |
Western Toad |
| Subspecies |
boreas |
Boreal Toad
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Original Description |
Bufo boreas Baird and Girard, 1852 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 6, p. 174
Bufo boreas boreas Baird and Girard, 1852 Boreal Toad
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
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Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Bufo - toad
Boreas - Greek meaning north wind or northern - which refers to the northern range
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
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Alternate Names |
Anaxyrus boreas boreas
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Related or Similar California Frogs |
Bufo boreas halophilus
Bufo californicus
Bufo woodhousii
Bufo canorus
Bufo exsul
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More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
1 Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995
.Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Corkran, Charlotte & Chris Thoms. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996.
Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005.
Leonard et. al. Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, 1993.
Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983. |
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The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This toad is not on the Special Animals List. There are no significant conservation concerns for it in California.
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Organization
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Status Listing
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| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
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| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
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| California Department of Fish and Game |
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| Bureau of Land Management |
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| USDA Forest Service |
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| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
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World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
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