Wildlife Notes

Did you know that Canada geese will sometimes appropriate old nests of tree nesting birds like eagles? How do the goslings get down from these nests? Find out here. 

The northern hawk owl is a unique looking creature that can occasionally be found in North Dakota in the winter. 

Is it a monarch butterfly or a viceroy? Viceroy, along with many other species, use mimicry to aide survival. Find out more in this post.

What is a leopard pike? Find out here!

Did you know that the eyes on an American Bittern are set in their face so they can easily focus downward? Bittern eat a wide variety of prey like fish, insects, small reptiles and mammals which they use stalking behaviors to capture. 

Many species of wading birds migrate through North Dakota. Some even breed here. Learn more in this short video.

Bigmouth buffalo and smallmouth buffalo are members of the sucker family and both native to the Missouri River System in North Dakota.

Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), a member of the rose family, is the state fruit of North Dakota. This small tree or shrub grows to a height of 20 feet. 

While some larger predators will take on an occasional porcupine, only one in North Dakota is a truly effective predator of porcupines. Learn more.

Learn about owls that migrate through and/or nest in North Dakota.

So, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Well, a New York state wildlife expert, Richard Thomas, decided to answer that question some years back.

Badgers are found statewide in North Dakota. Find out more about this hard-digging furbearer in this segment of North Dakota Outdoors.

This clash of bighorn sheep was observed in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the fall of 2019. It was an epic battle, but in the end, no clear winner emerged...

Did you know that temperature influences the gender of painted turtles in the egg? If the temperature of egg incubation is around 78 degrees F, then the hatchlings will be male. If it is around 86 degrees F they will be females. For temperatures between 78 and 86 F they could be either.

Did you know that birds stand on their toes rather than their feet? Learn more in this Wildlife Notes post.

Arguably one of North Dakota's more entertaining upland game species is the sharp-tailed grouse. In the spring these grouse can be found on leks (dancing grounds) where males display to attract mates.

Lowhead dams can be great locations for fishing, but they can also present real safety hazards. Find out more in this short video from a 2018 North Dakota Outdoors program.

Spiny and smooth softshell turtles can be found in the southern portions of the Missouri River System in North Dakota.

Snapping turtles are common throughout North Dakota. These big turtles can live 40-50 years or more in the wild and can grow to around 65 pounds (though most are in the 10-35 pound range). 

Did you know that porcupines have three types of fur? Learn more in this Wildlife Note post.

Have you ever been driving down a back road during the spring and seen tubes of dirt meandering along a ditch? These tubes are created by northern pocket gophers.

Did you know that sagebrush lizards (found in the North Dakota badlands) can drop their tail to distract an attacking predator? They escape while the predator goes after their still twitching tail. Later their tail grows back.

Sights and sounds of spring advancing across our North Dakota

One strategy sharp-tailed grouse use to survive winter is to burrow into the snow. Find out more in this post.

Plains gartersnakes can be found across North Dakota and can be identified by three stripes, with the middle stripe often being bright orange or yellow. 

All birds molt - shedding their old, weathered feathers with new ones. Some birds molt once per year, others two or three times per year. Sometimes the molt process is simultaneous, such as with waterfowl when they lose all of the primary feathers at once, leaving them flightless for 3-4 weeks. You’ve probably seen them this time of year in a wetland doing a breast-stroke swim to escape to cover.