Western Toad

Western Toad
Bufo boreas

The California Toad is a subspecies of the Western Toad. They are California natives, found throughout most of California. Their range stretches from the bottom of Nevada into Northern Baja California. Adults range in size from 2-5 inches. They have dry, warty skin with dark splotches that may be green, tan, reddish brown, gray, or yellow. They often have a white stripe down their back. Males are typically less blotchy and have smoother skin than females.

Their calls are a series of high pitched rapid peeps, almost like a chick. They have small vocal sacks, rendering their calls rather quiet when compared to more resonant species. They use their calls mostly during breeding season (January to early July) as a method to maintain territory and space between males. Winter rains cue the toads that it is breeding season. The toads migrate by scent to the wetlands they use to breed before mating and laying their eggs in still water. When laid, the eggs contain bufotoxin to protect them from predation, though the concentration of toxin in the eggs decreases with time. The eggs will hatch in about 3-10 days. Tadpoles metamorphose after about 30-45 days. As adults, they may stay in their breeding grounds or disperse to nearby wetlands, meadows, forests, or rice fields where they will use their large sticky tongue to catch a wide variety of invertebrates.

California toads have two large oval bumps on either side of their heads behind their eyes, called paratoid glands. These glands produce and secrete a foul tasting poison called a bufotoxin.. 

Kaiya and Irwin both came to us in 2024 from Effie Yeah Nature Center. Kaiya was taken from the wild in 2013 when she was accidentally (and unceremoniously) dug out of the ground and tossed into a wheelbarrow. She was kept in human care for observation to ensure she was uninjured. This fully woke her during the time of year when food is scarce and California Toads brumate to survive. She had to be kept longer to make sure she did not starve. Irwin was confiscated from an illegal collector in 2019 when he was one month old. He was also kept in human care to be observed for injury. Both were deemed non-releasable due to their time spent in human care. Irwin is smaller than Kaiya and has a white stripe down his back, as shown above. Western Toads tend to live about 9 years in the wild. As of 2026, Kaiya is over the age of 13, though we do not know by how much, and Irwin is 7. You can often find Kaiya sitting on top of Irwin.