Green Toad
Bufotes viridis
A harmless toad with a green-spotted back. Common in open country in Georgia, scarce in dense forest.
Overview
What is Green Toad
The green toad (Bufotes viridis) is a harmless, green-spotted toad of open country in Georgia. The 2026 Georgian checklist treats it as a biologically confirmed species and keeps the name Bufotes viridis. It belongs to the true toad family (Bufonidae). It has no venomous bite and is not dangerous to people. Species-level length is usually about 5–12 cm; females are generally larger than males. IUCN assesses it as Least Concern. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List.
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Identification
How to identify Green Toad
A short, warty toad with irregular green or olive spots, a horizontal pupil and large glands behind the eyes. In Georgia it is most often confused with the Caucasian toad.
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The back is grey or olive, with irregular green or olive spots. The sides often show small red or orange warts. The belly is greyish. In the arid south-east of Georgia some individuals have also been described with a narrow mid-dorsal stripe.
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Large glands behind the eyes — parotoid glands — produce a defensive secretion that can irritate the mouth or eyes. The pupil is a horizontal slit; a round eardrum is usually visible.
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The skin is warty. Length is usually about 5–12 cm; females are generally larger than males. In the breeding season males develop rough pads on their fingers — first on the first finger, and at the peak of the season often on the second and third as well.
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The Caucasian toad is brown or reddish-brown, without a green-spotted mosaic, and lives more in forest. The green toad is an open-country animal. Both occur in Borjomi Canyon, but in different microhabitats.
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The Syrian spadefoot has a vertical pupil and a hard digging “spade” on the hind foot; it lacks large glands behind the eyes. Treefrogs have smooth skin and sticky discs on the toes.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
A 1996 Georgian review maps it across the Caucasian Isthmus — from forest to desert and into settled land — but it avoids closed-canopy forest, though it may appear in clearings. That paper lists 28 localities in eastern Georgia and 14 in the west; it is abundant across the country except on the humid south-western Black Sea coast. Records from Batumi and Poti are older (Nikolsky 1913 and later citations) and it is scarce there. Distribution confidence in the checklist is medium. The 2026 barcode and checklist figure are from Pantishara Canyon (Dedoplistskaro Municipality, Kakheti). Breeding in Borjomi Canyon is confirmed by 1993–1994 field studies; that site lies at about 900–1200 m — a local study range, not a country-wide elevation limit. This atlas marks all 12 regions, including Kakheti (Pantishara) and Samtskhe–Javakheti (Borjomi); western coastal regions are included because of those older records and should be treated as scarce. Look for it in steppe, clearings, gardens, parks and other open settled land. It breeds in shallow pools, ditches and ponds — at species level usually not deeper than 50 cm.
Diet
Adults hunt on land: beetles, spiders, ants and other crawling invertebrates. Ants are an important part of the adult diet; newly transformed young take smaller prey — springtails, small beetles, mites and flies. Tadpoles eat algae and decaying plant matter. There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page; these are species-level data.
Behavior
It is mainly active at dusk and at night. By day it stays hidden. During breeding it may also appear by day around shallow water. In dry weather it may come to water at night to drink. In Borjomi Canyon the peak of breeding has been recorded in April–June. It is an open-country toad: in Borjomi females may lay more than one clutch in a season, unlike the forest toad, which usually lays one. Eggs are laid in long strings in water. Females there typically mature after three winters; the oldest females in that sample reached 9–12 years. It overwinters on land — in burrows, holes and under stones; sometimes in water. If you find one, leave it where it is and do not pick it up. Wash your hands after any contact. It is not dangerous to people.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List assesses Bufotes viridis as Least Concern (2023). It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List — the amphibians listed there are the Caucasian salamander and the Syrian spadefoot. It often lives in gardens, parks and other places near people. Local threats include loss of meadows and drying of wetlands; forest clearance can favour this open-country species. AmphibiaWeb lists it on Appendix II of the Bern Convention.
Yes. It is biologically confirmed in the 2026 Georgian checklist. A 1996 review treats it as common in the country except on the humid Black Sea coast.
In open, dry or semi-arid country — steppe, clearings, gardens and settled land, especially in eastern Georgia. Named sites include Pantishara (Dedoplistskaro, Kakheti) and Borjomi Canyon. It is scarce on the humid Black Sea coast. The map marks all 12 regions; western coastal marks rest on older records and should be treated as scarce.
No. It has no venomous bite and is harmless to people. Secretion from the glands behind the eyes can irritate the mouth or eyes; wash your hands after contact and do not pick it up. Mouthing by a dog can be harmful.
A short, warty toad with green or olive spots, a horizontal pupil and large glands behind the eyes. A plain brown forest toad is a different species.
The green toad has a green-spotted back and lives in open country. The Caucasian toad is brown, without that spotted mosaic, and is found more in forest. Both occur in Borjomi, but in different places.
Not in this atlas. The 2026 Georgian checklist keeps the name Bufotes viridis: there is no evidence of geographic or genetic isolation between Caucasian and European green toads. Some studies call Caucasian populations B. sitibundus. In the field the animal is identified the same way.
Species-level length is usually about 5–12 cm. Females are generally larger than males. In Borjomi, young at the end of their second summer are about 3–5 cm.
Watch it and leave it where it is. Do not pick it up or move it from a pool. Wash your hands after contact. It is not a medical risk to people.
- Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
- Tarkhnishvili 1996 — The distribution and ecology of the amphibians of Georgia and the Caucasus
- Tarkhnishvili 1993 — Anurans of Borjomi Canyon
- Gokhelashvili & Tarkhnishvili 1994 — Age structure of six Georgian anuran populations
- Tarkhnishvili & Gokhelashvili 1999 — The amphibians of the Caucasus
- Dufresnes et al. 2019 — Fifteen shades of green
- Speybroeck et al. 2020 — Species list of the European herpetofauna
- Frost — Amphibian Species of the World (Bufotes viridis)
- AmphibiaWeb — Bufotes viridis
- IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group 2023 — Bufotes viridis
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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