Common Toad | Reserves and species

Scientific Name:

Bufo bufo

Common Toads are amphibians, breeding in ponds during the spring and spending much of the rest of the year feeding on dry land in woodland, gardens, hedgerows and tussocky grassland. Common Toads breed in larger, deeper ponds than Common Frogs. They are famous for their mass migrations back to their breeding ponds on the first warm, damp evenings of the year, often around St. Valentine's Day.

How to identify:

Olive-brown, warty skin and short back legs. Walks rather than hops. Toads lay their eggs in long strings of spawn, wrapped around aquatic plants.

Where to find it:

Widespread but declining across the country. Found almost everywhere, except for Scottish Islands, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isles of Scilly and most of the Channel Islands.

How people can help:

Human activity, including the drainage of land for agriculture and the loss of ponds through development, has resulted in the disappearance of many wetlands. This has taken its toll on wetland wildlife like toads. The Wildlife Trusts are working closely with planners, developers and farmers to ensure our wetlands are protected. You can help: encourage toads and other amphibians into your garden by having a wildlife-friendly pond and leaving piles of logs for hibernating beneath. In partnership with the RHS, The Wildlife Trusts' Wild About Gardens initiative can help you plan your wildlife garden.

Statistics:

Length: 8cm Weight: 10-100g Average Lifespan: up to 40 years

Conservation status:

Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, and classified as a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Did you know?:

Our cities and towns pose a threat to toads; busy roads often block migration paths, making it difficult for them to reach their breeding ponds. In Oxfordshire alone, the roads are littered with 20 tonnes of unlucky toads every spring. If more than 1,000 toads are known to hop across a road in a particular spot, it is dubbed a

Seasons:

Spring

Summer

Autumn

When to see

Start date:

February

End date:

October

Image: