Range in California: Red
Dot-locality range map
Listen to this toad:
One short call
More sounds of
Bufo woodhousii woodhousii
|
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County |
Adult male calling at night from the shore of breeding pond, (shown below) Riverside County |
 |
 |
 |
Adult, Riverside County |
Adult, Riverside County |
Underside |
 |
 |
 |
Sub-adult, Franklin County,
Washington |
Adult, Franklin County,
Washington |
Tadpoles, Riverside County |
 |
 |
 |
Cranial crest between and
behind the eyes |
Elongated paratoid glands
behind the eyes |
Digging Spade on hind foot |
 |
 |
 |
Breeding habitat - irrigation pond in orchard, Riverside County
|
Irrigation canal habitat,
Imperial County |
Habitat, Riverside County |
|
|
Description |
| Size |
| Adults are 1 3/4 - 5 inches from snout to vent ( 4.4 - 12.7 cm). |
| Appearance |
| A large toad with dry, warty skin. Prominent cranial crests, sometimes with a boss between them, which contact the elongated, divergent parotoid glands. Gray, brownish, olive, greenish, yellow above, with dark blotches, a whitish stripe on the middle of the back to the snout, and a network of black and yellow on the rear of the thighs. Below is pale cream or beige, with or withouts dark spots. Young may hve no dorsal stripe. Male's throat is sooty. |
| Voice (Listen) |
| This toad's call sounds like a muted sheep or calf bleating, or a snore, lasting 1 - 3 seconds. Calls from dusk to dawn from quiet waters of ponds, streams, irrigation ditches, and marshes. |
| Behavior |
| Nocturnal, remaining underground in the daytime, but occasionally seen moving about in daylight or resting at the edge of breeding pools in the breeding season. |
| Diet |
| Diet probably consists of a wide variety of invertebrates. Typical of most frogs, the prey is located by vision, then a large sticky tongue is used to catch the prey and bring it into the mouth to eat. |
| Reproduction |
Mating and egg-laying occurs from February to August, usually during or after rains. Fertilization is external. Eggs are laid in strings and attached to vegetation in shallow water.
Hybridizes with B. punctatus, and possibly with B. b. halophilus. |
| Range |
| In California, this subspecies is found in the southeast - along the Colorado River, in the Imperial Valley, and north to the Palm Springs area. Out of the state, it occurs in isolated populations in southern Washington, extreme east Oregon and part of western Idaho, southern Nevada, eastern Montana, North Dakota, south to Texas. The species occurs throughout much of the United States and north-central Mexico. |
| Habitat |
| Inhabits a wide variety of habitats - irrigation ditches, temporary pools, backyards, grassland, sagebrush flats, woods, desert streams, farms, river floodplains. Pregers sandy areas. From below sea level to 8,500 ft. (2600 m.) |
| Taxonomic Notes |
Bufo woodhousii taxonomy is undergoing changes. Some authorities do not recognize any subspecies of Bufo woodhousii, referring to this toad as Woodhouse's Toad. Others recognize several subspecies.
This toad has been renamed Anaxyrus woodhousii woodhousii, but this nomenclature is not yet standard. |
| Conservation Issues (Conservation Status) |
| None |
|
|
Taxonomy |
| Family |
Bufonidae |
True Toads |
| Genus |
Bufo |
True Toads |
| Species |
woodhousii |
Woodhouse's Toad |
| Subspecies |
woodhousii |
Rocky Mountain Toad
|
|
Original Description |
Bufo woodhousii - Girard, 1854 - Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Vol. 7, p. 86
from Original Description Citations for the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Meaning of the Scientific Name |
Bufo - toad
woodhousii - honors Woodhouse, Samuel W.
from Scientific and Common Names of the Reptiles and Amphibians of North America - Explained © Ellin Beltz
|
|
Alternate Names |
Bufo woodhousii - Woodhouse's Toad
Anaxyrus woodhousii woodhousii
|
|
Related or Similar California Frogs |
Bufo cognatus
Bufo boreas halophilus
Bufo punctatus
|
|
More Information and References |
Natureserve Explorer
California Dept. of Fish and Game
AmphibiaWeb
Stebbins, Robert C. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians. 3rd Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2003.
Behler, John L., & F. Wayne King. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Corkran, Charlotte & Chris Thoms. Amphibians of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996.
Jones, Lawrence L. C. , William P. Leonard, Deanna H. Olson, editors. Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Audubon Society, 2005.
Leonard et. al. Amphibians of Washington and Oregon. Seattle Audubon Society, 1993.
Nussbaum, R. A., E. D. Brodie Jr., and R. M. Storm. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific Northwest. Moscow, Idaho: University Press of Idaho, 1983.
Davidson, Carlos. Booklet to the CD Frog and Toad Calls of the Pacific Coast - Vanishing Voices. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, 1995.
|
|
|
The following status listings come from the Special Animals List which is published several times each year by the California Department of Fish and Game.
This toad is not included on the Special Animals List, meaning there are no significant conservation concerns for it in California according to the Dept. of Fish and Game.
|
Organization
|
Status Listing
|
| U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) |
|
|
| California Endangered Species Act (CESA) |
|
|
| California Department of Fish and Game |
|
|
| Bureau of Land Management |
|
|
| USDA Forest Service |
|
|
| Natureserve Global Conservation Status Ranks |
|
|
World Conservation Union - IUCN Red List
|
|
|
|
|
