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American toad

Anaxyrus americanus · Frogs and toads · Amphibians

American toad (Anaxyrus americanus): Stout toad 50-100 mm (usually about 75 mm) with thick, warty skin; brown, olive, grey or reddish, changing with temperature, humidity and stress. Dark spots on the back each contain only one or two warts, sometimes ringed with white or yellow; oval pupils with a gold ring. This profile does not establish whether taking it is legal anywhere.

Check rules for a place and date

Certified rules currently represented in Hunt: coverage in development. This is coverage, not a legal answer.

American toad — verified North Ground species photograph
Adobe Stock · Standard License (asset 112430954)
Scientific name
Anaxyrus americanus
Family
Bufonidae
In North America
Native
Range
NatureServe lists it across eastern and central North America: Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Québec, and most of the eastern and central US; Newfoundland is listed as introduced.
Biology

How to identify it

Stout toad 50-100 mm (usually about 75 mm) with thick, warty skin; brown, olive, grey or reddish, changing with temperature, humidity and stress. [1][2][3]

Dark spots on the back each contain only one or two warts, sometimes ringed with white or yellow; oval pupils with a gold ring. [1][2][3]

Males have dark (black or brown) throats; females are larger with white throats; belly white or yellow. [1][2][3]

Toxic milky skin secretions irritate eyes and mouths. [1][2][3]

Compared with the southern toad: Southern has high cranial crests with pronounced knobs between and behind the eyes, which American lacks. [1][2][3]

Compared with the fowler's toad: Fowler's has three or more warts in each dark back spot and a mostly unspotted belly with a single dark chest spot; American has one or two warts per spot. [1][2][3]

Species it is confused with

Check these before deciding what you are looking at. If you are not certain what it is, do not shoot.

Field notes

  • Identification Confirm a american toad before you act. Compared with the southern toad: Southern has high cranial crests with pronounced knobs between and behind the eyes, which American lacks.[1][2][3]
Field knowledge

Where it lives

Terrestrial apart from a short breeding season; occupies forests to prairies wherever moisture, food and a breeding site are available; breeds in shallow, slow or still water, often with few fish. [1][2][3]

Field knowledge

How it behaves

Mainly nocturnal and most active in warm humid weather; by day hides under rocks and logs or digs into leaf litter and soil, backing in; digs deeper to hibernate. [1][2][3]

Call is a long trill lasting 4-20 seconds, given by males at breeding ponds in late spring and early summer. [1][2][3]

Eats a wide range of invertebrates (beetles, slugs, snails, earthworms), up to about 1,000 insects a day; tadpoles graze algae. [1][2][3]

Regulatory handoff

Limited legal take

Legal take of this species exists only under narrow conditions — a quota, a draw, a permit, a small area, or animals released or held on private land — set by the authorities below. Nowhere else is a legal opportunity implied, and Hunt shows one only where a certified rule establishes it.

Where legal take is listed

Being listed is not an open season. Seasons, zones, licences, methods and limits decide whether this animal may be taken on a given day and place — check Hunt or the authority before you go. Listings read 2026-09-30.

Geospatial intelligence

Where it is found

NatureServe lists it across eastern and central North America: Labrador, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Québec, and most of the eastern and central US; Newfoundland is listed as introduced.

Biology

Sources

Every claim above is attributed to one of these published sources.

  1. NatureServe · reviewed 2026-09-30

    NatureServe

  2. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

  3. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology · reviewed 2026-09-30

    Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology