---
title: "Western Black-headed Snake"
description: "Tantilla planiceps — Gady. The western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps), also known as the California black-headed snake, is a snake species endemic to the Californias (the U.S."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/pl/animal/western-black-headed-snake
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Western Black-headed Snake

> Tantilla planiceps — Gady. The western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps), also known as the California black-headed snake, is a snake species endemic to the Californias (the U.S.

- Scientific name: *Tantilla planiceps*
- Category: `reptiles` (Gady)
- Habitats: `desert` (Pustynia)
- iNaturalist observations: 500
- Wikidata: [Q2023348](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2023348)
- iNaturalist taxon: [28489](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/28489)

## Names

- en: Western Black-headed Snake
- de: Westliche Schwarzkopfschlange
- es: Culebrilla Cabeza Negra Occidental

## Countries with the most observations

US (444), MX (25)

## Summary

The western black-headed snake (Tantilla planiceps), also known as the California black-headed snake, is a snake species endemic to the Californias (the U.S. State of California and the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico), as north as the San Francisco Bay and as far east as western Utah, and Texas. It lives in mostly moist pockets in mostly arid or semiarid environments and spends much of its life underground. It has a flattened head as most crevice-dwellers and is seven to fifteen inches in size. It is brown, slender, olive-gray, with a black head bordered by a white collar. Its habitat is often in woodland, desert…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_black-headed_snake

## Photo

![Western Black-headed Snake](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/western-black-headed-snake/medium.jpg)

Photo: The Vertebrate Pokédex · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/274158729

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/western-black-headed-snake?lang=pl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).