Distribution:
Common throughout all but extreme southeast Kansas where they are gradually replaced by Fowler's Toads (Bufo fowleri).
Juveniles may be largely restricted to relatively mesic environments associated with breeding habitats of adults.
Adults are found in a variety of habitats although they are uncommon in nonriparian woodlands. They can be common in disturbed habitats such as irrigated fields, golf courses, and urban parks with ponds.
(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record) (,   iNat Record), (  Fossil)
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Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)

• Occurrence Summary:  
• 3,955
  Records 
• 3,213
  Museum Vouchers 
• 742
  Other Observations 

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Allen (12); Atchison (1); Barber (189); Barton (29); Brown (14); Butler (56); Chase (35); Cherokee (3); Cheyenne (39); Clark (10); Clay (14); Cloud (8); Coffey (3); Comanche (62); Cowley (139); Decatur (23); Dickinson (31); Doniphan (10); Douglas (168); Edwards (6); Elk (2); Ellis (335); Ellsworth (5); Finney (207); Ford (26); Franklin (1); Geary (30); Gove (23); Graham (102); Grant (10); Gray (26); Greeley (4); Greenwood (5); Hamilton (40); Harper (22); Harvey (18); Haskell (4); Hodgeman (5); Jackson (27); Jefferson (12); Jewell (8); Johnson (18); Kearney (10); Kearny (10); Kingman (52); Kiowa (6); Lane (21); Leavenworth (16); Lincoln (10); Linn (2); Logan (80); Lyon (17); Marion (58); Marshall (61); McPherson (45); Meade (104); Miami (3); Mitchell (9); Montgomery (5); Morris (2); Morton (227); Nemaha (12); Ness (73); Norton (27); Osage (9); Osborne (11); Ottawa (2); Pawnee (23); Phillips (24); Pottawatomie (163); Pratt (26); Rawlins (9); Reno (57); Republic (8); Rice (19); Riley (166); Rooks (19); Rush (32); Russell (99); Saline (13); Scott (21); Sedgwick (227); Seward (7); Shawnee (54); Sheridan (27); Sherman (4); Smith (17); Stafford (47); Stanton (8); Stevens (6); Sumner (15); Thomas (6); Trego (81); Unknown (4); Wabaunsee (42); Wallace (44); Washington (15); Wichita (3); Wilson (1); Woodson (1); Wyandotte (13);

Fossil History:
Pleistocene fossils have been reported from Meade, Ellis, Rice, and McPherson counties.
Fossils from the Williams Local Fauna of Rice County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Preston 1979, Holman 1984) are assignable to this taxon.
Fossils from the Sandahl Local Fauna of McPherson County (Pleistocene: Illinoian) (Holman 1971; Preston 1979) are assignable to this taxon.

Natural History:
This toad occurs anywhere that suitable habitat exists. It appears to prefer lowlands and sandy areas and is generally the only toad found on the floodplains of larger streams and rivers. Like most toads, it remains hidden during the day and emerges at night to hunt for food. This species, like many other amphibians and reptiles in western Kansas, appears to use the burrows of small mammals as retreats. In northeastern Kansas, Fitch (l 956) considered Woodhouse's Toads uncommon in his wooded upland study area, where the American Toad was abundant. He commented that this toad may be able to withstand higher temperatures than the American Toad.
The Woodhouse's Toad is active between March and late September; during gradually warming temperatures of spring in eastern Kansas, it probably does not emerge as early as the American Toad. Heinrich and Kaufman (1985) observed this species active on the Konza Prairie from 14June to 21 August.
They frequent a great variety of habitats but seem to be most abundant in sandy areas. The call is a low-pitched nasal waaaaah that can be heard following rains from March through June.
According to Blair et al. (1972), this toad breeds opportunistically and appears to prefer sloughs on river floodplains. Knight and Collins (1977) considered this toad to be the most observably abundant amphibian in Cheyenne County in extreme northwestern Kansas. They observed thirty male Woodhouse's Toads calling from a sandpit lake on 23 May and found tadpoles of this species on 27 May in an impoundment near the Republican River.
Generally, breeding begins later and at warmer temperatures than in the American Toad. Male Woodhouse's Toads congregate in small numbers at suitable breeding sites from March to August when rainfall and temperatures permit. Chorusing begins, a female is attracted, and the male toad mounts her, clasping her behind the front legs with his forelimbs. A female may lay up to 25,000 eggs. Two female Woodhouse's Toads from Doniphan County laid an average of 8,500 eggs in May (H. Guarisco, pers. comm., 1980; Collins, 1993). The eggs hatch and the free-swimming tadpoles metamorphose into adults. Heinrich and Kaufman (1985) heard choruses of this toad from late April through June on the Konza Prairie. Taggart (1992) observed these toads active in Allen County as early as 15 April at an air temperature of 51 °F and heard choruses in that same county as early as 28 April at 58°F.Like most toads, they remain hidden/buried during the day and are most active on humid nights. They can often be found around buildings foraging under lights that attract insects. Hartman (1906) examined the stomach contents of three young specimens from Graham County, that found ants and small beetles. Smith (1934) reported bees, beetles, insect larvae, spiders, and ants being eaten by this toad and pointed out the economic importance of this species consuming large numbers of insects, sometimes eating as much as two-thirds of its own weight in a single day.

Occurrence Activity:
Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 206; Range: 02 Jan to 16 Dec

Chorusing:

Audio recording by Keith Coleman.

Chorusing Phenology: The black outlined dots denote the Julian date (day of the year; 1 January = 1 to 31 December = 365) an observation was made. The thin red line depicts the range of dates between the beginning of the first, and end of the fourth quartile (excluding outliers; Tukey method). The thick light blue bar represents the second and third quartile (interquartile range; the middle 50% of all observations). Only one observation per Julian date is included in the graphs; so a date with multiple observations carries the same weight as a date with only one observation. The vertical bars correspond to the 12 months of the year; January through December.
Number of Unique Obervations: 553; Range: 25 Mar to 01 Sep; Interquartile range: 06 May to 23 Jun;

Remarks:
Hallowell (1859) mentions the Woodhouse's Toad from the "upper Arkansas". However, it was first reported definitely from Kansas by Cragin, (1880) listed a specimen from "Kansas' under the synonym Bufo lentiginosus Shaw., var. frontosus Cope.
The earliest existing specimen (KU 6386) was collected on Mouth Oread in Lawrence (Douglas County) on 17 May 1904 by Frank A. Harman (see Moriarty and Collins, 1995).
Based on a captive specimen, Snider and Bowler (1992) reported a maximum longevity for this species of thirteen years, three months, and twelve days.