Living in the Baltic Sea

Average size
4,5 - 8 cm in length, females are usually larger.

Age
7 years

Record size
10 cm

Habitat
Sandy and heathland (dwarf-shrub) areas and coastal areas. At night they move around open terrain with sparse vegetation, and in loose sand their tracks can often be seen. They move considerable distances each night, enabling the species to colonize new habitats very quickly. Natterjack prefer freshwater and they hibernate in winter.

Food
Insects, worms and small reptiles. On sighting movement it sits with the head towards the prey, opens it's mouth and with an extraordinarily fast tongue flick captures the tasty item on the sticky end of the tongue. Tadpoles feed on the algae found on leaves and stems of aquatic plants.

Reproduction
Reaching maturity at 2 years old, the Natterjack Toad lay 3 000 - 4 000 eggs in spawn strings in shallow warm temporary pool from April to July. Tadpoles can be heavily predated by beetle and dragonfly larvae if in a permanent body of water - hence the Natterjack's reproduction can be more successful in ephemeral ponds, - despite the risks associated with rapid drying out. Loud mating calls can be heard at this time. The Natterjack can mate several times each summer. Thus, the age of the juveniles can vary from (a month two) 1-3 months in September.

Human impact and Status
The species is decreasing in the Baltic Sea area. The main threats to this species are loss of specialized habitats (such as heaths and dunes) acidification of breeding pools, large-scale exploitation and modern agriculture with extensive mono-cultures, development for tourism drainage and eutrophication of soil water and the use of many biocides have affected both the terrestrial and aquatic habitat adversely. The Natterjack Toad is the second rarest amphibian, after the Pool frog. CLOSE