The Brown bear (Ursus arctos) is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of Brown bears are called Grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is known as the...
The Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a magnificent bird of prey found in North America. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting. It builds the largest nest of any North...
The American bison (Bison bison) is a species of bison native to North America. Sometimes colloquially referred to as buffalo (a distinct species of bovine), it is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the European bison. Once roaming in...
The Water moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorus) is a species of venomous pit viper. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth) and is native to the southeastern United States. As an adult, it is large and...
The Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is one of the most abundant and widespread of all North American birds. It is also one of the most popular gamebird, with more than 20 million birds (up to 70 million in some years) shot annually in the U.S.,...
The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is a species of even-toed mammal native to North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American antelope, prong buck, pronghorn antelope, and prairie antelope, because...
The Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird found in North America and Central America. Claims have been made that it is the most abundant living land bird in North America; bird-counting censuses of wintering Red-winged...
The Milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum) is a species of kingsnake. The subspecies have strikingly different appearances, and many of them have their own common names. The Milk snake is not venomous to humans.
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a member of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals that also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine. It is similar in appearance to the European badger, although not closely...
The Plains garter snake (Thamnophis radix) is a slender, medium-sized snake native to the United States and Canada. This species is mildly venomous, although its venom is not toxic to humans.
The massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) is a venomous rattlesnake species found in midwestern North America. Like all rattlesnakes, it belongs to the pit viper family. Rattlesnakes receive their name from the rattle located at the end of their tails,...
The endangered Black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) belongs to the weasel family and is the only ferret that is native to North America. Domestic ferrets are a different species and of European origin. The Black-footed ferret was once found in the...
The Eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) is a species of venomous pit viper that is found only in the southeastern United States. It has the reputation of being the most dangerous venomous snake in North America.
The Southern black racer (Coluber constrictor priapus) is one of the more common subspecies of the non-venomous Eastern racer. These snakes are quite active during the day and eat almost any animal they can overpower. They are quite fast, giving...
The Eastern hog-nosed snake (Heterodon platyrhinos) is a species of mildly venomous rear-fanged snake found only in North America. Its teeth inject a mild amphibian-specific venom into prey and also are used to "pop" inflated toads like a balloon to...
The Eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is a large, non-venomous snake native to the United States. It is the longest native snake species in the U.S.
The Snow goose (Anser caerulescens) is a North American species of goose whose name derives from the typically white plumage. These are birds of cold timberline that migrate more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from traditional wintering areas to the...
The Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is one of a group of North American land tortoises that originated 60 million years ago, and is, therefore, one of the oldest species alive today. They are named for their ability to dig big, deep burrows....
The Gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer) is a species of nonvenomous colubrid snake endemic to North America. This snake is often mistaken for the Prairie rattlesnake but can be easily distinguished from a rattlesnake by the lack of black and white...
The Mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides) is a small thrush that is found in mountainous districts of western North America. It is a relative of the Eastern and Western bluebirds.
The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius ) is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA. The northern harrier migrates to more southerly areas in winter with breeding birds in...
The Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) is a venomous pit viper species native to North America. Currently, two subspecies are recognized, including the Prairie rattlesnake, the nominate subspecies, and the Hopi rattlesnake.
Mississippi kites (Ictinia mississippiensis) are small birds of prey graceful in flight, often appearing to float in the air.
The coachwhip (Masticophis flagellum) is a nonvenomous colubrid snake found only in the United States and Mexico. The primary myth concerning coachwhips, that they chase people, likely arises from the snake and the person both being frightened, and...
The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is a harmless spikey-bodied reptile called horned lizard. It is the largest and most widely distributed of the 14 species of horned lizards in the western United States and Mexico.
The Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) is a medium-sized icterid bird. It nests on the ground in open grasslands across western and central North America. The Western meadowlark is the state bird of six states: Montana, Kansas, Nebraska, North...
The Ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis) is a large bird of prey and belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks. An old colloquial name of this majestic bird is Ferrugineous rough-leg, due to its similarity to the closely related Rough-legged hawk. The...
The Black-tailed rattlesnake (Crotalus molossus) is a venomous pit viper species found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Alternate common names of this snake are Green rattler and Northern black-tailed rattlesnake.
The Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is one of the world's most widely distributed owls. Eared owls have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may not be visible. The Short-eared owl will display its tufts when in a...
The Greater prairie chicken (Tympanuchus cupido) is a large grouse from North American. This species was once abundant but has become extremely rare and extirpated over much of its range due to habitat loss. One of the most famous aspects of these...
The Northern pintail (Anas acuta) is a duck species that has a wide geographic distribution. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific duck Eaton's pintail is considered to be a...
The Scarlet kingsnake (Lampropeltis elapsoides) is a nonvenomous species of kingsnake found in the United States. Until recently, and for much of the 20th century, Scarlet kingsnakes were considered a subspecies of the Milk snake; however, Pyron and...
Swainson's hawk (Buteo swainsoni) is a large bird of prey named after William Swainson, a British naturalist. It is colloquially known as the Grasshopper hawk or Locust hawk, as it is very fond of locusts and grasshoppers and will voraciously eat...
The Swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a small fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America. It is closely related to the Kit fox. The Swift fox became nearly extinct in the 1930s as a result of predator control...
The Western hognose snake (Heterodon nasicus) is a rear-fanged nonvenomous snake native to North America. These snakes get their common name, "hognose", from the modified rostral (nose) scale that is formed in an upturned manner, providing a very...
The Eastern pine snake (Pituophis melanoleucus) is a nonvenomous snake found only in the southeastern United States. It gets its Latin name from "melano" meaning black and "leucos" which means white. This is in reference to its black and white body.
Blue-winged teal (Spatula discors) are small members of the dabbling duck group found in North America. They are often the first ducks to migrate south in the fall and the last ones to return in the spring. During migration, some Blue-winged teal...
The Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) is a medium-large sized falcon from North America. Having evolved in a harsh desert environment with low prey density, the Prairie falcon has developed into an aggressive and opportunistic hunter of a wide range...
The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. It is...
The long-nosed snake (Rhinocheilus lecontei ) is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to North America. It has two recognized subspecies. The other species in the genus were previously considered...
The Eastern fox snake (Pantherophis vulpinus) is a species of rat snake native to North America. It is a non-venomous colubrid. The scientific name of this species ‘vulpinus’ means ‘fox-like’. Fox snakes earned their name because the musk they give...
The Slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus) is a legless lizard found only in the United States. Their name comes from their easily broken tail which they can break off themselves without ever being touched and it is difficult to find a...
