Brown Anole

About the Brown Anole

The Brown Anole is a small, tough lizard native to Cuba and the Bahamas that has spread through Florida and much of the Gulf Coast, including the lower Texas coast. It is always some shade of brown or gray, often with a pale stripe or a row of diamonds down the back of females. Males are stockier, with a ridge along the spine and a large orange-red throat fan, or dewlap, edged in white or yellow.

Unlike the native Green Anole, which can switch from green to brown, the Brown Anole never turns green. It also lives lower to the ground, favoring tree trunks, fences, walls, and the base of shrubs, where males bob their heads and flash the dewlap to warn off rivals and court females. Females lay a single egg every week or two through the warm months, which helps explain how quickly the species colonizes new places.

Brown Anoles eat almost any insect or spider they can overpower and will also take smaller lizards, including young Green Anoles. Where the two meet, Green Anoles tend to move higher into the canopy. Nursery plants and shipping have carried the species far beyond its original range.

These photos come from South Padre Island in Cameron County on November 23, 2022, where Brown Anoles are now a familiar sight around the landscaped grounds of the birding and convention center.