Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita)

Common Name: Natterjack Toad
Scientific Name: Epidalea calamita
Family: Bufonidae – True Toad Family
Location: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia (Kaliningrad), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom
Size: 2.3 – 2.8 inches (60 – 70 mm)

The Nattarjack Toad is a fossorial, nocturnal species. They spend the day hiding under logs, rocks, or burrowed in the dirt but come out at night to hunt. During the winter months, the toad hibernates deep in the soil to prevent freezing to death.

The toad emerges from hibernation in the spring and then starts to breed until the end of summer. The male toads call from the shallows of ponds and ditches to attract the female toads. Once the female toad arrives, the male grasps her from behind in amplexus. Then, the female toad lays her eggs and the male frog fertilizes them. The female toad lays between 2800 to 4000 eggs.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assesses the Natterjack Toad as Least Concern for Extinction. The Natterjack Toad is found across Europe but rare in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They are listed as threatened in the United Kingdom. In Kaliningrad, Russia, the toad is extinct. The major threat to the toad is habitat lose due to human development.