Migrations to and from breeding areas usually occur at night during, or just following, rains. Some migration also takes place on cloudy days. Breeding adults and aquatic larvae are active both day and night. The first rains of fall usually initiate migration to breeding localities. Once at the breeding sites, adults become aquatic and may remain in or near these ponds and streams for several weeks.
Adults migrate back to subterranean refuges in the spring, where they spend the summer aestivating.
Migrations are delayed until as late as May at higher elevations of the Sierra. Larvae normally transform in the summer or fall of their first year. Twitty et al. The inactive juveniles probably remain in moist areas under objects near breeding ponds or streams until they nest in spring or summer. Breeding and egg-laying may extend from fall through late spring depending on the locality.