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Features: Oregon is home to an estimated 25,000-30,000 black bears, which is North America’s most common bear species. They are the only type of bear found in Oregon. Despite their name, black bears are often brown in color. Habitat: Black bears are found statewide, with concentrations in the Coast and Cascade ranges and the Blue Mountains. Techniques: Oregon offers a controlled spring season (apply by Feb. 10) and a general fall season. Glassing open areas where bears are feeding on grass and shrubs works early spring season. Later in the season, some hunters turn to predator calls. Most fall bears…

Black bears are the largest extant carnivores in Oregon. They are, however, smaller than grizzly bears, and they lack the grizzly's distinctive shoulder hump. A black bear is heavily built with stout legs and large feet. The eyes and ears are relatively small and the tail is extremely short. The claws are recurved but relatively short with those on the forefeet equal to or only slightly longer than those on the hind feet. The characteristic humped shoulders and dished face of the grizzly bear are absent. During spring-autumn seasons, black bears tend to be more active during daylight and crepuscular…

Bear facts: Is it a black bear or a grizzly bear? Oregon is black bear country. Although native to the area, there are no longer grizzly bears in the state. The last grizzly bear recorded was killed in the late 1930s at Billy Meadows, north of Enterprise in Wallowa County. However, because black bears are often brown, people sometimes wonder what species of bear they have seen. Here is some information on bear identification. Q. Grizzly bears are brown and black bears are black. Correct? A. Not really. Grizzly bears can be brown, blond, grey, reddish or silver tipped. Black…

Adult male scoters of all species are black, but black scoters are the blackest; their shiny black plumage bears no white. The swollen bright orange-yellow knob on the otherwise black bill is smaller than that of other scoters. Males are distinguished in flight by the flashing silver-gray of underwing flight feathers against black wing linings and the all-black body. Females' uniform soot upperparts and dark head cap are clearly delineated from paler cheeks; their bills are usually dark. Immatures resemble females, but most males acquire some black feathering the first fall. This scoter can be uncommon to locally common along…

This medium-sized flycatcher has expanded its breeding range from northern California to southwestern Oregon and continues to expand its range in Oregon. First experiences with the species may bring to mind a Slate-colored Junco behaving like a flycatcher. The Black phoebe is dull, sooty black overall, somewhat paler on the back, with a white belly contrasting with the black breast and sides. Bill, legs, and feet are black. The phoebe dips its tail repeatedly. Black phoebes are associated with water. Slow-flowing, idle, or slack water of large rivers, streams, and creeks, ephemeral and permanent ponds, lake shorelines, irrigation ditches, and…

The Black oystercatcher is easily recognized with its black plumage, long, strait, laterally compressed, orange-red bill with a yellow tip, orange-red eye ring, yellow iris, and pale pink legs. These birds are restricted to rocky coastal shorelines where they feed in the intertidal zone. They are an uncommon to fairly common resident on rocky shores and sand/gravel beaches along the entire coast. Along the sandy central coast, they are present only as an occasional dispersing or wandering individual, typically on jetties. Black oystercatchers are Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Nearshore ecoregion. Hear the call of the Black oystercatcher Photo…

Features: Black rockfish are dark gray to black on top, with a lighter belly, and black spots on their dorsal fins. They can grow to be 25-inches long. Take the "Black Rockfish or Not?" quiz Habitat: They are found over rocky reefs most typically shoreward of 180 ft. of depth, and are common along jetties and other structure in estuaries. Occasionally schools of black rockfish will come all the way to the surface. Technique: Rockfish feed on squid, octopus, krill, and other fish . They readily take both bait and lures. Common lures include rubber-tailed lead head jigs and shrimp…

This is Oregon's smallest breeding tern, with black head and body and gray wings during the breeding season. Black terns are delicate, graceful fliers, reminiscent of a nighthawk or swallow. The Black tern breeds in marsh wetland complexes of southeast, south central and central Oregon. In western Oregon, a very small breeding population is found at a few sites in the Willamette Valley. Hear the call of the Black tern Photo by Bob, Flickr

Features: Black scoters‘ plumage is pure black uninterrupted by any white. The swollen bright orange-yellow knob on the otherwise black bill is smaller than that of other scoters. Females' uniform soot upperparts and dark head cap are clearly delineated from paler cheeks. Habitat: This scoter can be uncommon to locally common along the coast fall through spring, usually on the ocean. Techniques: Like other scoters, black scoters are ducks of the open ocean, and inaccessible to most hunters.

The black rat is slightly smaller than the Norway rat, but much larger than the house mouse, the only other members of the subfamily in Oregon. The black rat is similar to other members of the subfamily in that it possesses a scaly, scantily haired tail; membranous, nearly naked ears, and a soft pelage. It differs from the Norway rat in having a tail much longer than the length of its head and body and commonly having a darker-colored pelage. The pelage ranges from black to sandy brown dorsally and from lead colored to nearly white ventrally. The black rat…