Natterjack toad Bufo calamita

This endangered species has brown or green skin covered in warts, which are typically bright red or yellow, and has the distinguishing feature of a thin, bold, yellow stripe down its back.

Conservation status in Norfolk

Natterjack toads are endangered in the UK and therefore have strict protection under British and European law. They have full protection under schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Click to see the Biodiversity Action Plan Species for this species

How to help

Never take adult natterjack toads or their tadpoles from the wild (it is an offence to do so). Take care not damage habitats that are good for natterjack toads as habitat loss is one of the main reasons for their decline. If you find a colony of natterjack toads then please inform the Norfolk Biological Record Centre.

Adopt me today and help ensure my future!

Natterjack toad, Karl Charters

Information on the Natterjack toad

How to recognise

Natterjack toads have brown or green skin covered in warts which are often bright yellow or red. Its distinguishing feature is the thin bold yellow stripe down its back. It is about 5 – 8cms long and its pupil is a horizontal slit. Natterjack toads tend to run rather than walk or hop.

Where to see

Natterjack toads like sandy habitats – such as coastal dunes, coastal grazing and saltmarshes and heaths - where shallow pools of warm water which they need for breeding can form. In Norfolk they can be found on the NWT reserves at Holme and Syderstone Common and on the Natural England reserve in Winterton.

When to see

Like the common toad, the natterjack toad spends the winter hibernating. It emerges later than frogs and common toads - usually in April, however, depending on the weather conditions it may be as early as March and as late as June. During the breeding season the males can be seen (or more often heard) making their distinctive rasping call especially in the evening and after rain. During warm weather they are harder to see as they then hide in burrows until night when they emerge to feed.

Did you know?

During the breeding season a female natterjack toad can lay up to 7,500 eggs. Natterjack toads normally excavate their own hibernation burrows but they will use burrows made by rabbits, rodents and sand martins.

Finding out more

The Herpetological Conservation Trust
http://www.herpconstrust.org.uk/index.php
Froglife
www.froglife.org

Related questions

How do you tell a natterjack from a common toad?

The natterjack toad is the rarest of Britain’s six native amphibians and may be found living in coastal sand dune systems, coastal grazing marshes and sandy heaths. It can be distinguished from a common toad by the yellow stripe which runs along its back. It also has shorter legs than the common toad and prefers to run rather than hop or walk. They also have a distinctive ratchet-like call, which can be heard from over 1km away on a still night.

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