Wildlife Notes

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department manages our state's fish and wildlife, including those species like aquatic invertebrates that often go unnoticed. Learn more in this week’s NDO News.

Did you know that North Dakota has 2 species of crayfish? Learn more in this week’s NDO News with fisheries biologist Mike Johnson. 

Sage grouse are disappearing from North Dakota. Learn more in this NDO webcast (2024).

Once an endangered species, bald eagle populations are increasing in North Dakota. Learn more in this NDO news video (2024)

During breeding season, male ring-necked pheasants will defend a territory against other males. Conflicts sometimes get a little heated...

Unlike marbled godwits, which breed in North Dakota, Hudsonian godwits can only be seen in the state during their spring migration. 

Breeding waterfowl depend on the prairie pothole region. Find out why.

Long-billed curlews are one of the 13 shorebird species known to nest in North Dakota. Learn more about these neat little birds here.

Bluegill spawn late May and June when water temperatures near 22 C (71.6F). Large males build nests in colonies where they spawn and protect eggs. Some smaller males will mimic females to fertilize eggs instead of nest building and defense.

North Dakota is home to two deer species, whitetail and mule deer. Learn more about their similarities and differences in this video.

River otters can be found in certain river corridors in North Dakota. Learn more about this species in this short video.

Contrary to popular rumor, there are prairie rattlesnakes east of the Missouri River in North Dakota. Learn about one population in this video.

Did you know that yucca moths are the yucca plant's only pollinator? Learn more here!

So is that ground squirrel you see in the North Dakota countryside a Flickertail or a Franklin's?

Wild turkey, a popular upland game species in North Dakota, are not native to the state. Learn more in this Wildlife Notes post.

If you want to see one of the state’s most impressive wildflowers in full bloom, you need to know not only where to look, but when.

Did you know that North Dakota's two hare (white-tailed jackrabbits and snowshoe hares) and three weasel (long-tailed, short-tailed and least) species turn white in the winter.

Stories about ghost moose are being told with increased frequency across the southern portion of moose range in North America. Winter ticks are the cause.

Newly hatched killdeer chicks, while not the most graceful of creatures, are arguably one of the most adorable. These chicks were filmed in a gravel area right outside of one of the Department's offices.

Watch this short video for some facts on bison in North Dakota.

Eastern kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus), which can be found across North Dakota in the summer, feed primarily on insects during the breeding season. Like owls and some other birds, eastern kingbirds regurgitate pellets of indigestible prey parts, in this case insect chitin. Here is a series of photographs demonstrating this behavior (because we knew everyone would appreciate this visual to start your day out right!)

Ticks sit on the tips of vegetation with legs outstretched waiting for dinner to wander by. Learn more about one of North Dakota's least favorite insects here.

American coots are a fairly common water bird in North Dakota. Check out this short video to learn more.

Red-eyed vireos typically sing high in tree canopies in short little bursts of 2-4 syllables, altering back and forth between ascending and descending tones so it sounds like a 90's Valley Girl on the phone saying, "Hello?" "Where are you?" "That's cool" "I'm up here." "Totally."

Moose are tall, gangly creatures that normally eat from the trees. When a food source is on the ground things get challenging. Learn more in this post.

Red-bellied snakes can be found in the eastern half of North Dakota and are the state's smallest snake reaching lengths of only 8-10 inches. 

Did you know a hummingbird has about 1,000 feathers on its body, whereas a Northern pintail has nearly 15,000? Feathers vary in structure and function. Check out this cool interactive learning tool, All About Feathers.

Have you ever wondered how a bony fish can be aged? Biologists count the growth sections of their otoliths. Learn more in this post.

The plains spadefoot (Spea bombifrons) is the most easily recognized toad in North Dakota. Its skin is smooth like that of a frog, and it has a distinct vertical pupil like that of a cat. Its color varies from a light cream, to gray or brown, and may have small orange spots.

The whooping cranes that make their way through North Dakota each spring are part of a population of about 500 birds that are on their way from their wintering grounds at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas to their nesting grounds at Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada, a distance of about 2,500 miles.

Channel catfish are aptly nicknamed swimming tongues. Find out why in this Wildlife News post

Department Upland Game Management Supervisor Jesse Kolar took this awesome video of a bull elk bugling in the badlands (Fall 2019).

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.