Lizards in the Yard

Yesterday I decided to go outside and take some pictures of the birds. There are a couple of common birds that hang around in our yard that I want pictures of. As I walked out the backdoor a couple of lizards went scurrying away and I changed my mind and instead started taking pictures of the lizards. I was able to get pictures of two different types of skink and also of the poisonous toad that is common on the island.

This first skink is by far my favorite. In the shade it has a dark brown upper body with copper colored stripes and a blue tail. They are smaller than the other skinks that I have seen. The largest that I saw was about 3 inches long. When they are in the sun their color changes to a bright gold on their body and their tail becomes a shinny metallic blue. As you can see it is a very colorful lizard.

(Blue-tailed copper-striped skink; Tafuna; American Samoa)

I followed the poisonous toad around for a while until it hopped into a little hole in a stump. It felt safe there and I was able to get few great pictures (although I had to use the manual focus and take several shots since the frog was basically the same color as the stump). I also was able to get a picture of what I think is a Pacific Black Skink. I'm not exactly sure because of the stripes and color variation on its body. The drawing I have in my animal identification book has it as a solid black. I am assuming that it is a Pacific Black since the Samoan Skink is found only in forest habitats.

(Marine Toad; Tafuna; American Samoa)


(Pacific Black Skink; Tafuna; American Samoa)

This morning I caught this cute little Gecko. Actually they are hard to catch so the trick really is to put your hand in front of them when the are running and eventually they will get frustrated and just jump on your hand and then climb all over you. After I caught him he sat on my arm for about five minutes and we visibly noticed his color change. He then climbed up on my hair and sat on my head for about ten minutes (while I got the kids breakfast) and he changed to a dark brown color. These pictures clearly show his color change (and yes this is the same lizard). We were impressed. There is nothing more spectacular than an animal that can change its color to fit into its environment.


(Stump-toed Gecko; Tafuna; American Samoa)