Incilius luetkenii
Silhouette: Jose Carlos Arenas-Monroy · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Incilius luetkenii (formerly Bufo luetkenii, common name yellow toad) is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found in Mesoamerica along the Pacific versant from central Costa Rica to extreme southern Chiapas, Mexico (including the intervening Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua), as well as dry interior valleys of Guatemala and Honduras and San Juan River drainage in Costa Rica on the Atlantic versant. It occurs in open areas, including disturbed pasturelands in lowland dry forests, and to a lesser extent, in lowland moist and premontane moist forests. It breeds in temporary pools. It is a common species that is not facing major threats. Additionally, this species of toad is known for using their vocal behaviors in order to call for mating. This can sometimes lead to aggression between those who are male in the species. Wikipedia →
Recording0:59
El Salvador · 2023
© Carlos Funes · iNaturalist · CC BY 4.0
Recording0:14
Costa Rica · 2026
© julie richardson · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Rosa National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Ostional Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Toad sighting in Ostional Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 5 amphibians we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and August
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Toad in Ostional Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, the lowest months. Those are among Ostional Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 390 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow Toad sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Yellow Toad sightings, Ostional Wildlife Refuge ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Santa Rosa National Park (Costa Rica, about 40%), Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%) and Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve (Costa Rica, about 20%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow Toad is recorded against all the amphibians logged in Ostional Wildlife Refuge (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
