Wildlife Notes

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.

In the summer, American tree sparrows can be found nesting (on or near the ground, not in trees as their name might imply) in the far northern regions of Canada and in Alaska.

Getting to watch an adult monarch butterfly emerge from its chrysalis is something most of us never get the opportunity to do, so we thought we’d share these photos.

While rare hybrids in North Dakota sage grouse and sharp-tailed grouse occasionally occur. Learn more in this video depicting sage, sharptail and hybrid grouse.