This chunky toad exhibits a variety of color variations from brown to green or gray and usually has a light colored vertebral stripe down the back. A key to identification is the white undersurface, mottled with black spots. Toads are common in areas of southeast Alaska and have been found as far north as Prince William Sound. Adult toads are diurnal and feed heavily on insects and other small animals. They are often seen walking instead of hopping.
Western toads hibernate through the cold winter months and awaken in the spring.
Adults migrate to breeding ponds where the male attracts the female with a soft clucking call. The smaller male then grasps the larger female from above and fertilizes the eggs externally as she extrudes them into the water. The eggs resemble a long string of beads and later hatch into black tadpoles. Thousands of transforming tadpoles and tiny toadlets can be seen at breeding ponds during summer. Mortality of young toads is high, due primarily to adverse environmental conditions and predation.