April 26, 2009 - Trilling Toads

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

Warmer weather brings an unmistakable trilling sound from permanent ponds, temporary pools and water-filled ditches. It is the mating call of a familiar amphibian, the American Toad. These red to brown to almost black toads sport a rough, bumpy skin and a cream-colored chest and abdomen flecked with black. After a winter buried in soft soil or under leaf litter, American toads emerge to make their way to breeding pools. Within two weeks of emergence male toads begin calling for mates. Throats puffed out like tan bubbles, males trill for five to thirty seconds at a time, competing in an aural contest. Females join males a few days later at the breeding pools. After only a few short weeks toads leave the pools, their trilling calls fading into memory for another year.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.