Vertebrate: Birds

  • Image of a mallard duck, Anas platyrhynchos, taking flight just above the water with droplets rolling off of its underside.

    May 8, 2025
      Image by 'pheanix' on Flickr, CC BY 2.0 Physical: Females are a plain brown with a few white tail feathers…
  • May 8, 2025
    Image by Gary Irwin from Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0 Physical: Common loons reach lengths from 70-90 cm.  Dorsally, they are…
  • Image of a little blue heron standing in the water.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Small heron with very dark blue, almost slate grey feathers. Their heads are dark purple-maroon. Juveniles, however, have fully…
  • Image of a Chuck-will's Widow, Antrostomus carolinensis, perched on a tree branch.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Chuck-will's-widows have a mottled coloration of brown and black. They have a unique flattened head shape seen in nightjar species.…
  • Image of a least sandpiper, Calidris minutilla, standing on a rocky surface.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Least sandpipers have a mottled brown coloration with a white underside, yellow legs, and a long brown beak. Their…
  • Image of a great horned owl, Bubo virginianus, perched in a tree.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Great Horned Owls have a mottled grey-brown coloration over the entire body with a white throat patch and a rounded…
  • Image of a Merlin, Falco columbarius.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Merlins are small falcons between 9.5 and 12 inches (24-30 cm) long with a 21-27 inch (53-68 cm) wingspan. In…
  • Image of a Snowy Owl, Bubo scandiacus, photographed near Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge on January 27th, 2012.

    May 8, 2025
    Image by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Headquarters on Flickr, CC BY 2.0 Physical: Snowy owls are a large owl species…
  • Image of an Eastern Kingbird, Tyrannus tyrannus, perched at the top of a branch.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: Eastern Kingbirds are black and white in coloration. The underside, breast, throat, and end of the tail are white.…
  • Image of a ring-billed gull, Laurus delawarensis, walking along a sandy beach.

    May 8, 2025
    Physical: This medium-sized gull has long, thin wings and a short, yellow beak that has a distinct black "ring" marking around…