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The Barred owl expanded its range from the eastern United States. It was first reported in Oregon in the early 1970s and has since spread to forested areas throughout most of the state. Sometimes confused with the closely related Northern spotted owl, the Barred owl is large with grayish-brown and white feathers and stripes on its chest and throat. It is easily distinguished from the Northern spotted owl by the pronounced horizontal barring across the throat and upper breast, and vertical brown streaks on the lower breast and abdomen. The Barred owl is now a permanent resident in forests of
The Common nighthawk is a migrant to Oregon with one of the longest migration distances of any North American bird. It is also one of the last to arrive in Oregon. Long, slender wings are marked by a white patch on the "hand" visible in flight from great distances. When perched on the ground, the cryptic brown, gray, and black mottling makes the bird almost invisible. This bird breeds and migrates at all elevations through the state. Its nesting habitat is characterized by open landscapes with little ground cover and is most abundant in sagebrush and rocky scablands and rimrock
The down-slurred pee-eer call of this flycatcher is one of Oregon's most characteristic summertime bird sounds. Wherever there is a canopy of mature deciduous trees, one is likely to hear the call during warm afternoons when most other birds are silent. Because the call can easily be heard, it can usually be found perched near the tip of a dead branch from which it frequently flies a short distance to capture a flying insect, or to chase an intruder from its territory. The Western wood-pewee is a common migrant and fairly common breeder statewide in open groves of trees or
This colonial-nesting swallow places its nest at the end of a burrow dug into a soft cliff or bank. The nesting cliff often appears riddled with holes, but not all burrows are used for nesting. A highly social species, the Bank swallow is usually observed in flocks of its own or with other swallow species. It has dark wings and tail that contrast with the paler brown back. The underparts are whitish except for a distinct brown breastband. It is a generally uncommon, but locally common to abundant summer resident at mid- to low elevations east of the Cascades. Numerous
Adult Cascades frogs have tan, copper or green backs with black spots and yellow bellies. Their skin has small bumps on the back and sides. Females, which grow to three inches in length, are slightly larger than males. Cascades frogs live in a variety of moist habitats including mountain meadows, bogs, seasonally flooded forested swamps and shallow ponds, marshes and lakes. They use woody debris, mud or dense vegetation for cover from predators and spend their winters hibernating in mud. They emerge during the summer and live in wet meadows and bogs or along forested streams and pond edges. The
The drake gadwall is a large mostly gray dabbling duck. Adult drakes have a black bill, buff head, gray body, and black upper and lower tail coverts. Hens are nondescript brown ducks with a spotted, yellowish-orange bill with black edges. Gadwalls are unique among dabbling ducks in having a partly white speculum which can be observed in flight. Common vocalizations include the deep, reed-like sounds of the male and the female's quacking, similar to but more nasal and higher pitched than the mallard hen. It is an abundant breeder locally in eastern Oregon and an uncommon breeder in western Oregon
When mention is made of ducks, many people first think of the mallard. Its ability to tolerate human disturbance and adapt to urban as well as rural habitats make it the Northern Hemisphere's most abundant and widespread waterfowl. Females are mottled-brown, with dark brown stripe through the eye, orange bill with black splotching and have yellowish-orange legs. Immatures resemble adult females until males acquire nuptial plumage usually by mid-November. Males enter the eclipse molt in June and resemble hens until mid-September. Wings of both sexes have a violet-blue speculum bordered in front and behind by a pronounced white stripe. They
Known as "bluebill" to most hunters, this species is one of the most abundant and widespread of North American ducks. The lesser scaup is similar to the greater scaup in appearance and habits, but is smaller and lacks the white on the primaries. In the field, however, the black-and-white drakes and brown hens are very similar to greater scaups. The common vocalization is the purr call of the female; drakes are usually silent, but utter a low single-note whistle in courtship. In general, the lesser scaup is more apt to be found in interior or freshwater habitats while the greater
The white secondaries of the white-winged scoter in all plumages form a conspicuous square wing patch during flight but are often hidden during rest. Other than the secondaries, males' plumage is entirely black except for a small white teardrop around each eye. Females and immatures are dark brown above and pale below with diffuse white patches in front of and behind the eyes. A black knob graces the males' swollen, white-ridged, orange bills, while females' and immatures' bills are dark; the feathering of all extends almost to the nostril. Abundant along the coast from fall through spring, white-winged scoters are
The pied-billed grebe is an aquatic species that breeds at the edge of open water in freshwater lakes, ponds, sluggish rivers, and marshes. When disturbed, it sinks like a submarine, rather than diving, and re-emerges with only its head above water. This is a brownish grebe with a black vertical bar in the middle of the rather stubby, whitish bill, and jet-black throat patch on both sexes in alternate plumage. It has a surprisingly loud "yelping" call within a marsh. Young have striking stripes on the head. This bird is widespread and common in Oregon. It winters locally in open
Among the largest of the world's nuthatches, White-breasted nuthatches also are noteworthy for an extensive repertoire of unusual behaviors and habits. Unlike most other North American passerines, White-breasted nuthatches maintain close pair bonds over most of the year. In spring, they cement their pair bond by exhibiting a variety of courtship displays. Elaborate display rituals also are used in antagonistic territorial interactions, and distraction displays are used to deter predators. The White-breasted nuthatch is common in western Oregon lowlands. It is most abundant in southwestern interior valleys, with specimens from Salem to Jackson County. It occurs in oak and mixed
Arguably the most widely recognized of Oregon's birds, the American robin is the largest, most abundant, and most widespread thrush in the state. Ranging from sea level to treeline, the robin's loud, musical voice and conspicuous brick-red chest make it unmistakable to even the most casual of observers. The robin thrives in both human-dominated and natural landscapes and is considered to be a habitat generalist throughout its range. Considering the robin's natural history, we know most about its diet, which comprises primarily of soft invertebrates in the spring and summer and fruit in the fall and winter. It is most
A large and colorful member of the sparrow family, the Green-tailed towhee is perhaps more recognizable by its eye-catching chestnut crown than by its less intense green-gray back and olive tail. As a ground forager, it spends most of its time on the ground or in thick cover, scratching about industriously in the leaf litter, and it may go unnoticed. But its catlike mewing call, which it often gives from a brushy perch, is one of the quintessential sounds of the shrublands of the east slope of the Cascades and the Great Basin. It is locally fairly common east of
Appropriately named, adult long-toed salamanders have extremely long toes on their hind feet. Adults have black or brown skin that is smooth and moist with a yellow ragged-edged stripe running from its head to the tip of its tail. It is speckled with white or silver dots along its sides and underside. Adults may grow up to more than six inches in total length. Adult long-toed salamanders are seen infrequently, as they spend most of the year in the ground. They find cover in a variety of habitats including grasslands, dry shrub-steppe, pastures, lowland forests, high elevation lakes and ponds
Belding's ground squirrel is a medium-sized ground squirrel without spots, stripes, or splotches. The pelage is smoky gray with some pinkish on the face, feet, and venter, and with a more or less well-defined reddish or brownish band in the middorsal region. The tail is cinnamon on the ventral surface. This squirrel occurs south and east of a line connecting Enterprise, Heppner, Maupin, Wasco Sisters, Diamond Lake, and south to Fish Lake. It may occur in steppe and shrub-steppe area, particularly in meadows; sagebrush flats; and small-grain pasture , and hay-crop fields, and sometimes in openings in woodlands. The Belding's
The Northern flying squirrel is the smallest arboreal squirrel in Oregon. It is typically squirrel-like except that the fore- and hind legs are connected by a furred patagium that extends from the ankle to the wrist. It is lead colored with buffy brown to brown tips. It occurs in forested areas west of the Cascade Range and eastward to near Lakeview, Lake County and Paulina Lake, Deschutes County. The species also occurs in the Blue, Ochoco, and Wallowa mountains. Northern flying squirrels are mostly nocturnal although individuals may be observed abroad during light hours on rare occasions. They are usually
With its long, decurved bill, the black and cinnamon Virginia rail probes the mud for much of its food. Its narrow body is specially designed for slipping through a densely vegetated marsh, so it rarely has to move away from cover. Known for its staccato kidik, kidik call, this rail also contributes grunts, clicks, churs, squeaks, skeeuws, and quack-like noises to the marsh chorus. In Oregon, this is a rare to locally abundant breeder. In western Oregon it breeds in freshwater and brackish marshes. In eastern Oregon, large marshes in Klamath, Lake, and Harney counties host numerous breeders each year
This small shorebird moves along the sand by foot rather than flight. It has a distinct black cap behind a white forehead, a dark line though the eye, and an incomplete black breast band. Males have darker and more distinct breeding plumage than females; both sexes loose coloration during late summer. It is the only shorebird that regularly breeds on Oregon's beaches. East of the Cascades, the Western Snowy plover is a summer resident breeding on alkaline flats and salt pans. On the Oregon coast, this species is found year-round between Heceta Head and Cape Blanco. Western snowy plovers are
This fragile-looking bird with bold black-and-white plumage and exaggerated, long, reddish legs is often associated with American avocets at shallow inland ponds and lakes. Very noisy and aggressive in protection of its nest and young, using a variety of distraction displays, including an impressive broken-leg act to lure away interlopers. The Black-necked stilt is a locally uncommon to fairly common summer resident of Klamath, Lake, Harney and Malheur counties. The largest Oregon breeding colony is at summer Lake. It has become a regular spring and fall migrant through eastern Oregon and irregular spring and casual fall migrant through western Oregon
