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Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita)

Natterjack Toad
Photo: Joxerra aihartza via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 — free for commercial reuse.

About the Natterjack Toad

The natterjack toad (Epidalea calamita) is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm (2.4–2.8 in) in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid glands. They have relatively short legs, which gives them a distinctive gait, contrasting with the hopping movement of many other toad species. Natterjacks have a very loud and distinctive mating call amplified by the single vocal sac found under the chin of the male. Natterjacks live for up to 15 years, and feed mainly on insects, especially beetles. At night, they move around open terrain with sparse vegetation, and their tracks can often be seen in loose sand. They move considerable distances each night, enabling the species to colonize new habitats shut up.

Source: Natterjack toad on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

A real field recording of the Natterjack Toad. Press play and focus on the rhythm and pitch of each phrase.

Listen

Our streaming copies are mirrored from the original xeno-canto file and transcoded to 96 kbps mono — a modification, so we note it here; the licence for each recording is named in its credit below.

Call (1:06) via xeno-canto.org/990257, licensed Public Domain / CC0 — free for commercial use.

1 recording on this page · licensed Public Domain / CC0 ×1 · mirrored on this server, free for commercial reuse · recorded in Germany · xeno-canto lists 1 recording for this species in total.