American Toad (Bufo americanus)

Common in the piedmont and mountain regions of NC, this species is very similar to Fowler's Toad. American Toads are distinguished from Fowler's Toads by a couple of ways:
1. Generally Americans have only one or two large warts in the big black blotches on the back, whereas Fowler's have 3 or more.
2. In Americans, the parotoid gland (long oval bump behind the eye) does not touch or just barely touches the ridge behind the eye, sometimes connected by a spur. (In Fowler's they touch for a significant length.)

Even after looking at these characters, they can be an ID challenge!

	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Orange Co., NC 5 May 2017
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Orange Co., NC 5 May 2017

American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Alamance Co., NC
9 July 2006

	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Chatham Co., NC 20 Oct 2005

American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Orange Co., NC
1 Apr 2007

American Toad (Bufo americanus)
Orange Co., NC
30 May 2008

	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Duke Forest Durham Division, Orange Co., NC 24 May 2023
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Duke Forest Durham Division, Orange Co., NC 24 May 2023


Eno River State Park, Orange Co., NC 28 May 2003	same individual

	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011 Vocal sacs are inflated and used to produce mating calls -- a long, musical trill lasting 20-39 seconds and frequently repeated.
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011 During most of the year, toads are encountered on land, while hiking or poking around your backyard. In the mating season however, they seek shallow water.
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011
	American Toad (Bufo americanus) Durham Co., NC 19 Mar 2011 After mating, thousands of eggs are laid which hatch in about a week. The tadpoles then take about two months to transform to fully formed toads.