# Common Toad — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Bufo bufo*

> A toad is a tail-less amphibian, typified by the common toad (Bufo bufo), with dry, warty skin, short legs and toxin-secreting parotoid glands behind the eyes. Unlike frogs, toads usually walk rather than leap, live mostly on land, and return to ponds each spring to breed.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern (IUCN), but declining in parts of the UK  ·  **WARN range:** United Kingdom and Ireland, Mainland Europe, North-west Africa, Western and northern Asia to Siberia

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Common name | Common toad (European toad) |
| Scientific name | Bufo bufo |
| Type | Amphibian (true toad) |
| Length | Typically 8-13 cm; up to ~15 cm |
| Lifespan | About 10-12 years in the wild |
| Diet | Slugs, snails, worms, insects and other invertebrates |
| Breeding | Spring; eggs in long double strings |
| Defence | Bufotoxin from parotoid glands |
| Range | Europe, NW Africa, western and northern Asia |
| IUCN status | Least Concern (declining in parts of the UK) |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Amphibia
- **Order:** Anura (frogs and toads)
- **Family:** Bufonidae (true toads)
- **Genus:** Bufo
- **Species:** Bufo bufo

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, owing to its very wide distribution and large overall population. Despite the favourable global assessment, the common toad is declining in some regions, including parts of the United Kingdom, due to loss of breeding ponds, habitat fragmentation, road mortality during spring migrations, pollution and disease.
- **Population:** Not precisely quantified; abundant and widespread across its global range, though declining locally in some areas.
- **Trend:** Stable globally; declining in parts of the UK and some other regions
- **Assessed:** 2009 (IUCN Red List assessment)
- **CITES:** Not listed on CITES
- Conserving and creating garden ponds, maintaining safe migration routes across roads, and protecting damp terrestrial habitat all help local toad populations recover.

## Key facts: Common Toad
- Toads and frogs are both amphibians, but toads have dry, warty skin, shorter legs and walk rather than leap.
- Parotoid glands behind the eyes secrete bufotoxin, a defence that makes most predators avoid eating toads.
- Each spring, common toads migrate back to ancestral breeding ponds, often crossing roads in large numbers.
- Females lay eggs in long double strings (not clumps like frogs), wrapped around water plants.
- Globally the common toad is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, but it is declining in parts of the UK.
- Toads are gardeners' allies, eating large numbers of slugs, snails, beetles and other invertebrates.

## What does a common toad look like?
The common toad is a robust, broad-bodied amphibian with dry, warty skin in shades of olive, brown, grey or dull yellow, helping it blend into leaf litter and soil. It typically reaches 8-13 cm in length, though large females can grow to around 15 cm; males are usually smaller and slimmer. The eyes are striking, with a horizontal pupil and a copper, orange or gold-coloured iris. The most distinctive feature is a pair of large, raised parotoid glands set behind the eyes, which secrete a defensive toxin. Toads have relatively short hind legs compared with frogs, which is why they tend to crawl or make small, awkward hops rather than the long, powerful leaps of a frog. Their skin is rougher and drier to the touch, and they lack the dark 'mask' marking common in frogs. Southern populations are generally larger than northern ones, and females are consistently stockier than males, a difference that becomes obvious in the breeding season.

## How do toads breed and migrate?
Common toads spend most of the year on land, but in early spring they undertake a remarkable mass migration back to the ponds where they themselves hatched, sometimes travelling several hundred metres or more. Many follow the same routes year after year, which is why toads are so often seen crossing roads on mild, damp spring nights. At the pond, smaller males grip larger females in a mating embrace called amplexus, and a male may be carried to the water on a female's back. The female lays a long, paired string of eggs—often 3 to 4.5 metres long and containing roughly 1,500 to 6,000 eggs—winding it around submerged plants. Unlike frogs, toads do not lay rounded clumps of spawn. The eggs hatch into small, dark tadpoles after about ten days. Toad tadpoles are mildly toxic, which helps protect them from fish and other predators, and they gradually develop legs before emerging from the water as tiny toadlets in summer.

## Are toads poisonous, and what do they eat?
Toads are not venomous in the sense of biting or stinging, but they are mildly poisonous to eat. The parotoid glands behind the eyes, along with smaller glands across the skin, secrete bufotoxin—a bitter, irritating substance that can sicken or deter a predator that tries to swallow the toad. This chemical defence means many animals learn to leave toads alone, although hedgehogs, grass snakes, rats, crows and birds of prey can still take them, and some predators skilfully avoid the toxic skin. The toxin can cause drooling, vomiting or worse in pet dogs or cats that mouth a toad, so curious pets are best kept away. As hunters, toads are voracious nocturnal predators of invertebrates, eating slugs, snails, worms, beetles, ants, woodlice, caterpillars, flies and spiders; large individuals occasionally take tiny mice. This appetite for slugs and other garden pests makes the toad a welcome, natural form of pest control.

## Toad vs frog: how to tell them apart
| Feature | Common toad | Common frog |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Skin | Dry, warty, rougher | Smooth, moist, often shiny |
| Legs and movement | Shorter legs; walks or short hops | Longer legs; long leaps |
| Parotoid glands | Prominent, behind the eyes | Absent |
| Eggs (spawn) | Long double strings around plants | Rounded clumps of jelly |
| Typical habitat | Mostly on land, returns to ponds to breed | Often near water year-round |

## What WARN does
WARN does not run field projects specifically for the common toad, which lives largely outside our five partner countries. This guide is part of our free educational work to help people understand and value wildlife. The threats that affect toads—habitat and pond loss, busy roads cutting across migration routes, pollution and disease—are the same pressures that harm many amphibians and other animals WARN does protect, so learning about one helps protect them all.

If this guide deepened your appreciation for wildlife, a small gift helps keep WARN's educational work free for everyone.

## Frequently asked questions: Common Toad
### What is the difference between a frog and a toad?
Both are amphibians, but the common frog has smooth, moist skin, longer legs and moves in long leaps, while the common toad has dry, warty skin, shorter legs and tends to walk or make small hops. Frogs lay eggs in rounded clumps; toads lay them in long double strings. Toads also have prominent parotoid glands behind the eyes that frogs lack.

### Are toads poisonous to touch or to dogs?
Common toads secrete bufotoxin from glands in their skin, which is irritating and bitter to deter predators. Simply touching a toad is generally harmless, but you should wash your hands afterwards and avoid touching your eyes or mouth. If a dog or cat mouths a toad, the toxin can cause drooling, vomiting and distress, so keep curious pets away and contact a vet if symptoms appear.

### What do toads eat?
Toads are nocturnal hunters that eat a wide range of invertebrates, including slugs, snails, earthworms, beetles, ants, woodlice, caterpillars, flies and spiders. They detect prey mainly by movement and flick out a sticky tongue to catch it. Large toads occasionally take very small mice. Because they consume so many slugs and snails, toads are valued as natural, chemical-free pest controllers in gardens.

### How long do common toads live?
In the wild, common toads are thought to live for about ten to twelve years, which is long-lived for such a small animal. Survival is lowest in the egg and tadpole stages, when many are eaten by fish, birds and insects. Toads in captivity, free from predators and harsh weather, can live far longer, with exceptional individuals recorded at several decades old.

### Why do toads cross roads in spring?
In early spring, common toads migrate from their land habitats back to the ponds where they hatched in order to breed, often following the same routes their ancestors used. Where these traditional routes cross roads, large numbers of toads can be seen travelling on mild, damp nights—and many are killed by traffic. This is why volunteers in some areas help carry toads safely across busy roads during the migration.

### Are common toads endangered?
Globally the common toad is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN because it has a very wide range across Europe, north-west Africa and into Asia. However, it is not doing equally well everywhere: surveys suggest the species has declined in parts of the UK over recent decades, linked to the loss of ponds, habitat fragmentation and busy roads. Protecting ponds and migration routes helps reverse local declines.

## Sources
- [Common toad - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_toad)
- [IUCN Red List - Bufo bufo](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/54596/11159939)
- [Bufo bufo - Encyclopaedia Britannica (true toad / Bufonidae)](https://www.britannica.com/animal/true-toad)
- [Bufo - Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/animal/Bufo)
- [Amphibian - Encyclopaedia Britannica](https://www.britannica.com/animal/amphibian)

---
Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/toad