Common Newt
Identification: Slender salamander. Length up to 11 cm, mostly smaller. Males somewhat larger than females. Three grooves visible on the head that diverge on the backside. Light stripe over side of the head, on top bordered by a dark stripe through the eyes, on the bottom by a dark stripe on the upper lip. This pattern is clearest in breeding males. The back is light brown, greyish brown to olive brown. The belly in males is light yellow with an orange central stripe and large round dark brown to black spots on both the throat and the belly. In females the belly is paler with small dark spots. No distinct light spots on the ball of the hind foot (sometimes vague light spots can be present). In the breeding season the animals stay in the water. They have a smooth skin then. Females have a modest crest on the tail in this period. Males have a high, continuous notched or undulating crest on the back and tail. (However the crest is almost smooth-edged when developing or when being reabsorbed after the breeding season.) The lower edge of the tail is usually orange with a light bluish streak above it. Large round dark brown or black spots on back, flanks, tail and crest, females with small spots or uniform. In males, dark fringes on toes of hind feet and the cloaca is clearly swollen in this period. In the terrestrial stage, the crest disappears in both males and females and the animals will be mainly light to dark brown. Males often darker than females. The skin becomes dry and velvety.
Just after metamorphosis the juveniles can be distinguished from those of the Palmate Newt: in the Common Newt, the yellow to orange stripe on the back starts on the head and stops on the pelvis; in the Palmate Newt, this stripe starts in the neck region and stops on the tail.
Range: Occurs in a large part of mid- and north Europe. In the British Isles, it has the widest distribution of the native newts, although it is less abundant in the north and west. Also on Guernsey and in Ireland.
Habitat: Many different landscapes, in both open and wooded areas. Also in villages and towns in places with suitable breeding water and sufficient vegetation and hiding places for the terrestrial stage. For breeding, it has a preference for small, shallow, sunny waters with dense vegetation, but they also breed near the edges of ponds and larger lakes and in slow stretches of rivers and streams. In Italy and Austria, found locally up to altitudes of 2000 metres.
Habits: Mainly nocturnal. In the terrestrial stage, they hide in moist places beneath stones or logs etc. They emerge from hibernation in February or March, depending on weather conditions. Part of the population migrates to the breeding water in autumn and probably hibernates in it. The rest migrates to the water in February and March. Breeding is from March to June, and the animals are diurnal during this period. Eggs are produced from April until the end of June. Produces 150-300 eggs in the course of the season, which are each folded separately in a leaf of a water plant. These hatch after 1-3 weeks. The larvae are 6-8 mm long then and grow to about 4 cm. Metamorphosis takes place after 6-10 weeks. Sometimes larvae overwinter in the water and metamorphose in spring. The newly metamorphosed salamanders are about 4 cm long and often have an orange stripe over the centre of the back. From July to October the young leave the water. They often mature after two years, females somewhat later than males. Until then, the young animals live on land. Most adults leave the water from mid-June to mid-July. They spend the rest of the summer and winter very close to the breeding pond, hiding in leaf litter, long grass and under stones. The newts come out to feed after dark on small invertebrates. Usually they hibernate on land in burrows under ground, frequently in cellars. Sometimes they overwinter in the water. Closely related to the Palmate Newt, but hybridisation between these species is rare. Larvae of both species hard to distinguish in the beginning.
How to find: In the breeding season, they can be observed at night by flashing in the water with a torch. Common Newts are very likely to make use of garden ponds and will be seen most often during the aquatic stage, when they will rise to the surface of the pond to gulp air. Outside this period the salamanders hide under stones or logs etc. They frequently hibernate in cellars.