The Western Toad (Bufo Boreas)

The Western Toad is found from southern Alaska down to Baja California. Its range extends throughout British Columbia, and it is the only amphibian native to the Queen Charlotte Islands.

A Western Toad
Photograph by S. Price

  • Adult Western Toads are 10 – 13 cm long

  • They can be a range of colours including brown, grey, green and red

  • Many adult Western Toads have a white or cream stripe down the centre of their backs

  • Their bellies and throats are lightly coloured and mottled with black spots

  • They have large, kidney-shaped paratoidal glands behind their eyes

  • Their backs are covered in warty glands

Habits: Western Toads live under leaves and in depressions in fields, forests, meadows and wetlands. They can tolerate dry environments quite well, although during particularly dry spells they may be seen nearer to streams and ponds, or hiding in damp shelters.

Western Toads burrow to hide from predators, but if confronted will display their paratoidal glands behind their eyes. These glands, in conjunction with the warts on their backs, secrete a bitter toxin that repels most attackers.

On Vancouver Island, only garter snakes are resistant to this toxin, and they will readily prey on Western Toads. The toads eat worms, slugs and insects, but will also eat larger animals when possible.

The Western Toad's paratoidal gland is behind the eye.
Photograph by B. Leonard

Although usually silent in British Columbia, Western Toads may vocalize when handled, making a ‘peeping’ noise similar to a young chicken.


Strands of Western Toad eggs.
Photograph by E. Wind

Breeding: Wester Toads breed in mid-Spring. They congregate in ponds and shallow lakes. Males do not call to attract mates. Females lay strands of up to 12,000 eggs in single file; multiple females may lay overlapping strands of eggs.

Tadpoles are dark brown or black. They hatch in about 10 days, and swarm in dense groups (sometimes numbering in the millions) in the warmest and most shallow waters they can find.

Western Toad tadpoles.
Photograph by E. Wind
A Western Toad metamorph.
Photograph by S. Price

After 6-10 weeks, toadlets metamorphose and migrate out of ponds in huge numbers. They will reach sexual maturity in 3-5 years, and can live up to 11 years in the wild.

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Webpage written and maintained by Purnima Govindarajulu and Mike Dodd
email: bcfrogwatch@victoria1.gov.bc.ca
Last updated May 2008