[7] The hatched tadpoles, while very small, are recognizable by their skinny tails in relation to the size of their round black bodies.

When metamorphosis is complete, the "toadlets" may stay in the water for a short period of time before transitioning to be mostly land based.

Often times, groups of tadpoles reach the toadlet stage at once and a begin a mass migration to higher ground.

Typically, toadlets migrate to shaded areas in the mid-range and upland forests that border the marshes where they were bred.

Studies have shown that they have a mutualistic relationship with Chlorogonium algae, which makes tadpoles develop faster than normal.

[8] Leaf litter from invasive plants like autumn olive or purple loosestrife in the larval nursery can increase the burden of trematode parasite infestation among tadpoles.

This is possibly mediated by faster development of tadpoles in these aquatic environments than in nurseries with leaves of native black huckleberry or swamp loosestrife.

The call or voice of a breeding male is a high trill that lasts between 6–30 seconds[14] and sounds similar to a ringing telephone.

Given these two things and a supply of insects for food, American toads can live almost everywhere, ranging from forests to flat grassland.

These toads are 'creatures of habit' once they have a certain area they prefer to live within... an acre of wooded forest with water in proximity for soaking, a home with cool ledges and window wells; they commonly seek cover in burrows, under boardwalks, flat stones, boards, logs, wood piles, or other cover.

When cold weather comes, these toads dig backwards and bury themselves in the dirt of their summer homes, or they may choose another site in which to hibernate.

[11] Their diet includes crickets, mealworms, earthworms, ants, spiders, slugs, centipedes, moths, and other small invertebrates.

Its range also overlaps with the southern toad's, but in this species the cranial crests form two unique knobs.

The spots on the back are reduced or absent, and when present they contain a few small red warts and a black ring around it like in the normal American toad.

The latter species is distinguished by the presence of a dark lateral stripe as well as a deep "valley" between its prominent cranial crests.

These northern dwarf toads mostly have the red coloring on the sides of their bodies and have an unusually high number of warts for the subspecies.