Animal
Natterjack toad
This toad has a yellow stripe down its back. It runs like a mouse instead of hopping!
The natterjack toad is a European toad with a thin yellow stripe down the middle of its back. It lives in open, sandy places such as sand dunes, heaths and gravel pits, and lays its eggs in warm, shallow pools that often dry up in summer. It has short legs and runs instead of hopping, and the males' rasping call can be heard a kilometer or more away.
Epidalea calamita (family Bufonidae) is a pioneer toad of open, sandy habitats from Iberia to southern Sweden, Estonia and western Ukraine, with isolated populations in Britain and southwestern Ireland. It breeds in sunny, shallow, temporary pools where larvae develop fast. Ogrodowczyk et al. (scope Global and Europe; assessed 20 February 2023, published 2024) list it as Least Concern, but it is declining, especially in the north of its range.
Photo: Christian Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Meet the natterjack toad
This toad has a yellow stripe on its back.
Its skin is dry and bumpy.
Its eyes are yellow-green.
You can spot a natterjack toad by the thin yellow stripe that runs down the middle of its back. Its skin is dry and warty, brown, gray, green or cream, often with red or reddish-brown warts. Its eyes are yellow-green, with a pupil shaped like a sideways oval.
It is smaller than the common toad: up to 8 centimeters long in Britain and up to 10 centimeters in the Netherlands. Its legs are short, and instead of hopping it runs.
RAVON (Netherlands): a medium-sized toad with dry warty skin, a yellow dorsal stripe, yellow-green eyes with a horizontal pupil and visible tympana; back yellow-brown or grey-brown with greenish blotches and often large red or red-brown warts; pale belly often with dark spots; up to 10 cm; rarely the stripe is missing, but the yellow-green iris still separates it from the common toad (orange-brown iris). Froglife (Britain): up to 8 cm; green, brown or cream; dark warts often tipped yellow or red; green iris with an oval, horizontal pupil. ARC: smaller than the common toad, with notably shorter legs. BfN: 'our smallest native toad' in Germany.
Quick facts
- Group
- Amphibian
- Length
- up to 0.1 m
- Lifespan in the wild
- up to 12 years
Dunes, heaths and gravel pits
This toad lives in Europe.
It likes open, sandy places, like sand dunes.
Natterjack toads live across much of Europe, from Portugal and Spain north to Denmark and southern Sweden and east to Belarus, the Baltic countries and western Ukraine. There are small, scattered groups in Britain and southwestern Ireland. They live from the seashore up to almost 2,540 meters in the mountains of Spain.
They like open, sunny places with light, sandy soil: coastal dunes, heaths, meadows, fields, gardens and parks, and sand and gravel quarries. In the daytime they hide in heaps of stones, in sandy soil or under things lying on the ground.
IUCN: southern, western and northern Europe from Portugal and Spain to Denmark, southern Sweden, western Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia and Estonia; isolated subpopulations in southwestern Ireland and scattered parts of the UK (north to southwestern Scotland); sea level to almost 2,540 m (Spain); open, unshaded light sandy soils of coastal dunes, lowland heaths, semi-deserts, high mountains, pine-forest glades, gardens, parks, fields, sand and gravel quarries and meadows; daytime refuges in stone heaps, sandy soil and debris. ARC: in Britain almost exclusively coastal dunes, coastal grazing marshes and sandy heaths (plus one upland fell colony in Cumbria), on about 60 sites. BfN: originally the floodplains of natural rivers; in Germany now mostly human-made open, warm sites such as sand, gravel and clay pits, quarries, former mines and industrial land.
Continent
Its habitats
Where can you find this animal?
- Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
- Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Lives here naturally · Countries and seas named by a scientific source
From Portugal and Spain to Denmark, southern Sweden, the Baltic countries, Belarus and western Ukraine, with scattered populations in Britain and southwestern Ireland (IUCN). The population in Russia's Kaliningrad region died out by 2020, so Russia is not shaded.
Places: Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and 12 more places.
Source: iucn-red-list · checked November 2026
Sightings recorded · Records of wild sightings (GBIF)
Counts of GBIF records of wild observations (human and machine) and preserved specimens. Records include introduced populations, vagrants, escaped or released animals and misidentifications, so a country with records is not necessarily part of the native range.
Wild sightings have been recorded in France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Portugal, UK, Denmark and 21 more places.
Source: gbif · checked October 2026
Range maps show where scientists say an animal lives, often country by country. An animal may live in only part of a country shown, and sightings records can include animals that wandered far from home.
Night hunting in the open
This toad comes out at night to hunt.
It eats moths, woodlice and other small animals.
Natterjack toads come out as it gets dark to hunt in open places. They eat moths, woodlice and other small animals without backbones. On sandy paths at night, they can be seen making short, quick sprints.
Their tadpoles grow up in warm, shallow pools, where there are very few fish or dragonfly larvae to eat them.
Froglife: active at night; feeds on moths, woodlice and other invertebrates. RAVON: strictly nocturnal, emerging at dusk to hunt in open places; short sprints on sandy paths at night; breeding pools that dry out in summer hold very few predators such as fish and dragonfly larvae. The IUCN assessment gives no diet details.
Did you know?
It is not a good swimmer.
Natterjacks swim very badly, so in the water they look for shallow spots where they can sit on the bottom.
A very poor swimmer that calls and spawns where it can stand on the bottom (RAVON).
A toad that runs
This toad has short legs.
It runs fast, like a little mouse!
Most frogs and toads hop, but the natterjack runs on its short legs, quickly, a little like a mouse. It is a very poor swimmer, so in the water it looks for a shallow spot where it can sit on the bottom.
There a calling male sits with his throat sac just above the surface and makes a loud, rasping, rolling croak. That call gave the natterjack its name.
BfN: moves not by hopping, as usual for frogs and toads, but by running quickly, mouse-like. ARC: notably shorter legs, on which it walks rather than hops. RAVON: a very poor swimmer that always sits where it can touch the bottom with its vocal sac just above the water; eggs are laid in such places. Froglife: a loud, rasping, rolling croak ('errr...errr...errr'); ARC: the common name comes from this call.
A race against drying pools
The mother lays long strings of eggs in a warm puddle.
The tadpoles must grow fast, before the puddle dries up!
Natterjacks wake from winter in spring and breed from about April into summer. Each female lays long strings of eggs, often in a single row, in shallow, sunny pools that warm up fast, and one string can hold 2,000 to 4,000 eggs.
The pools often dry out in summer, so the small black tadpoles must grow quickly. In very warm water they can leave as toadlets after only about four weeks. The young toads already show the yellow stripe, and they are grown up after their second winter.
Breeding season April to July in Britain (ARC), from early April to early August in Germany, with females visiting the water once or twice (BfN); a string holds 2,000 to 4,000 eggs (RAVON), the eggs often in a single row (ARC). Breeding pools are shallow, quickly warming (to 40 °C at most), ideally bare and temporary, so nearly free of predators (BfN), not more acidic than pH 5 and may be brackish (RAVON). Tadpoles are small and black (ARC) and, in warm water, may leave after about 4 weeks (BfN); the yellow stripe is visible on toadlets (ARC). Maturity after the second winter; average lifespan about 5 years, at best up to 12 (Günther and Meyer 1996, via BfN).
Loud nights and long journeys
On spring nights the males call very loudly.
You can hear them from far away.
On warm, still spring nights, male natterjacks gather around the breeding pools and call. Their rattling chorus can be heard a kilometer or more away, and on quiet nights in Britain up to 2 kilometers.
Natterjacks move around a lot for amphibians. Young toads in Germany have been found to move 1 to 3 kilometers to find new places to live, and they are quick to move into new pools. In winter they shelter in burrows they dig themselves, which can be 20 to 80 centimeters deep.
Calls carry up to a kilometer (RAVON), over a kilometer (BfN, Günther and Meyer 1996) and up to 2 km on quiet nights (Froglife). BfN (Germany): juveniles disperse 1 to 3 km, at most 5 km; up to 300 m in a night; most adults stay within a short distance of the water (95% within 700 m, Miaud et al. 2000); no strong tie to the birth pond, so new sites are colonised quickly; self-dug winter quarters 20 to 80 cm deep (Sinsch 1989), and burrowing depths of 120 to 180 cm have been recorded. IUCN: a pioneer species in much of southern Europe, much less adaptable in the north.
Did you know?
This toad runs instead of hopping!
Natterjacks have short legs and run quickly over the ground, a little like a mouse, instead of hopping like most frogs and toads.
Moves by running, mouse-like, rather than hopping (BfN; ARC).
Saving sandy places
Natterjacks need open, sandy places and warm puddles.
People are bringing them back to places where they were lost.
The natterjack toad is listed as Least Concern because it lives over a wide area and is common in parts of southern Europe. But in the north it is rarer and declining, in Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia, and it has disappeared from the Kaliningrad region of Russia.
Its dunes and heaths become overgrown with bushes and trees, and its breeding pools are filled in or turned acidic. In Britain it is strictly protected by law, and people have brought it back to places where it had been lost.
Least Concern (Ogrodowczyk et al.; Global and Europe; assessed 20 February 2023, published 2024; trend decreasing; also LC for the EU 27). Locally abundant in the south; localised and declining in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia; declining in Poland, Czechia and the Netherlands; extinct in Kaliningrad Province by 2020. Threats: scrub and woodland encroachment on heaths and dunes, afforestation, acidification of breeding pools, agricultural development, infilling of temporary pools and quarries, mechanised sand and gravel extraction, tourism development, climate change. Berne Convention Appendix II, EU Habitats Directive Annex IV; UK reintroductions have established at least six subpopulations; Endangered on the Great Britain amphibian Red List and Critically Endangered in Czechia (IUCN).
IUCN Red List
How is the natterjack toad doing in the wild?
- Least Concern (this animal)
- Near Threatened
- Vulnerable
- Endangered
- Critically Endangered
- Extinct in the Wild
- Extinct
Least Concern
Not at risk of disappearing from the wild right now.
Amazing facts
-
This toad runs instead of hopping!
Natterjacks have short legs and run quickly over the ground, a little like a mouse, instead of hopping like most frogs and toads.
Moves by running, mouse-like, rather than hopping (BfN; ARC).
-
Its call can be heard from far away.
A male natterjack's rasping call can be heard a kilometer or more away, and up to 2 kilometers on a quiet night in Britain.
Calls audible up to 1 km (RAVON), over 1 km (BfN) and up to 2 km on quiet nights (Froglife).
-
It is not a good swimmer.
Natterjacks swim very badly, so in the water they look for shallow spots where they can sit on the bottom.
A very poor swimmer that calls and spawns where it can stand on the bottom (RAVON).
-
Its tadpoles grow very fast.
In very warm puddles, natterjack tadpoles can turn into toadlets in only about four weeks, before the water dries up.
Larvae may leave the water after about 4 weeks in warm water (BfN).
Words to know
- parotoid gland
- a large raised gland just behind a toad's eye
- sand dune
- a hill of sand piled up by the wind, often by the sea
- heath
- open land with low plants such as heather, often on sandy soil
- temporary pool
- a pond or puddle that dries up for part of the year
- pioneer species
- a kind of living thing that is quick to move into new places
- reintroduction
- bringing an animal back to a place where it used to live
Discovery challenge
-
How do you spot this toad?
What is the easiest way to recognize a natterjack toad?
Which field mark best identifies Epidalea calamita?
- A thin yellow stripe down its back
- A long, curly tail
- Bright blue spots
Show the answer
A thin yellow stripe down its back
The yellow stripe!
A thin yellow stripe runs down the middle of its back.
The yellow vertebral stripe (RAVON; ARC).
-
How does this toad move on land?
How does a natterjack toad move over the ground?
How does Epidalea calamita usually move on land?
- It runs
- It flies
- It slides on its belly
Show the answer
It runs
It runs!
It has short legs and runs, a little like a mouse, instead of hopping.
Mouse-like running rather than hopping (BfN; ARC).
-
Where do these toads lay their eggs?
Where do natterjack toads lay their eggs?
What kind of water does Epidalea calamita use for breeding?
- In warm, shallow pools that may dry up
- In deep, cold lakes full of fish
- In the sea
Show the answer
In warm, shallow pools that may dry up
In warm, shallow pools!
Shallow, sunny pools that warm up quickly and often dry out in summer.
Shallow, quickly warming, often temporary pools with few predators (BfN; RAVON; IUCN).
-
What does this toad eat?
What do natterjack toads eat?
What does the diet of adult Epidalea calamita include?
- Moths, woodlice and other small animals
- Grass and seeds
- Fish
Show the answer
Moths, woodlice and other small animals
Moths and woodlice!
Moths, woodlice and other small animals without backbones.
Moths, woodlice and other invertebrates (Froglife).
Places where you might see it
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Watch
Country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, or UK, lies on islands off the northwest coast of Europe. It is made up of four parts, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and about 69.5 million people live there. Its capital is London.
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Country
Spain
Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
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Watch
Country
Germany
Germany is a country in north-central Europe. The land rises from flat plains by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to forested hills and, in the far south, the Alps. About 83.5 million people (2025) live there, and its capital is Berlin.
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Watch
Country
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a small, flat country in northwestern Europe on the North Sea. Its name means low-lying country: more than a quarter of it lies below sea level, protected by dunes and dikes. About 18.2 million people lived there in 2026, and its capital is Amsterdam, a city of canals.
Explore next
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Watch
Country
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom, or UK, lies on islands off the northwest coast of Europe. It is made up of four parts, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and about 69.5 million people live there. Its capital is London.
-
Watch
Country
Spain
Spain covers most of the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. Its middle is a high, flat plateau, the Pyrenees mountains stand between it and France, and almost 50 million people live there, with Madrid as the capital.
-
Watch
Country
Germany
Germany is a country in north-central Europe. The land rises from flat plains by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to forested hills and, in the far south, the Alps. About 83.5 million people (2025) live there, and its capital is Berlin.
-
Watch
Country
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a small, flat country in northwestern Europe on the North Sea. Its name means low-lying country: more than a quarter of it lies below sea level, protected by dunes and dikes. About 18.2 million people lived there in 2026, and its capital is Amsterdam, a city of canals.
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Watch
Animal
Common toad
The common toad is a warty brown amphibian that lives across Europe and into Asia. It spends most of the year on land, hunting slugs, worms and insects at night, then travels back to the pond where it hatched to lay long strings of eggs each spring.
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Common midwife toad
The common midwife toad is a small toad of western Europe. It is famous for the way it cares for its eggs: after mating on land, the father wraps the strings of eggs around his back legs and carries them for weeks, until they are ready to hatch. Then he takes them to the water. Its call sounds like a tiny bell.
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3D
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Amazon milk frog
The Amazon milk frog is a large tree frog that lives high in the treetops of the rainforest in northeastern South America. It is active at night, has big golden eyes, and lays its eggs in pools of rainwater trapped in holes in trees, where its tadpoles grow up.
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3D
Animal
American bullfrog
The American bullfrog is the largest true frog in North America. It lives in warm, still ponds and lakes, sits and waits for food to come close, and the males' deep 'jug-o-rum' call carries more than a kilometer. Its tadpoles can take years to turn into frogs.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Identify a natterjack toad by its yellow stripe and running walk.
- Explain why natterjacks breed in warm, shallow pools that dry up.
- Locate the natterjack's range in Europe, including Britain and Ireland.
- Describe threats to the toad and how reintroductions help.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- What are the good and bad sides of laying eggs in a puddle that might dry up?
- Why might a toad that cannot swim well need very shallow water?
- How could people keep sand dunes and heaths open for natterjacks?
Try at home or in class
- Warm water race: put the same amount of water in a shallow tray and a deep jar in the sun, and check with a finger which warms first. Talk about why natterjack tadpoles grow fast in shallow pools.
- Sound test: walk away from someone clapping until you can no longer hear it, then compare that distance with a natterjack call that carries a kilometer or more.
Key vocabulary: parotoid gland, sand dune, heath, temporary pool, pioneer species, reintroduction
Where these facts come from
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and GBIF Occurrence Search , Global Biodiversity Information Facility (CC0 1.0 (backbone); occurrence counts are facts derived from records under CC0, CC BY and CC BY-NC)
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN terms of use (no redistribution of Red List data or range maps))
- Epidalea calamita (Ogrodowczyk et al., assessed 20 February 2023, published 2024; scope Global and Europe) , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Epidalea calamita: justification, range, population, habitat, threats and conservation text , IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
- Epidalea calamita: IUCN Red List global assessment record (Ogrodowczyk et al. 2024), IUCN checklist on GBIF , GBIF
- Natterjack toad , Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC)
- Natterjack Toad , Froglife
- Rugstreeppad (natterjack toad), in Dutch , RAVON
- Kreuzkröte (Epidalea calamita), species portrait, in German , Bundesamt für Naturschutz (BfN, German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation)
- File:BufoCalamita Sand.jpg (Christian Fischer, April 1983) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file: Public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA only (credited on each page))
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.