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Features: These crab can be identified by their black-tipped claws, wide fan-shaped carapace (body cover) and deep, brick-red color.‌ Habitat: As the name implies, red rock crab prefer the harder substrate habitats such as rocks, pilings, and other structure. Red rock crab prefer higher salinities than Dungeness crab and therefore are usually found in larger estuaries, close to the ocean. They are most common in Coos, Yaquina, and Tillamook bays where there are plentiful rocky substrates. Red rock crabs are native to Oregon.‌ Techniques: Usually caught in combination with Dungeness crab, using the same techniques.‌

This majestically crested bird is often heard before being seen due to its conspicuous harsh rattling call. Kingfishers are most frequently associated with lake and pond shorelines and islands, as well as coastal dunes with ponds and widely scattered shrubs and trees. They hunt from a vantage point above water such as an overhead branch, telephone wires along shore lines or pilings of piers. This is a common permanent resident throughout most of the state except in the north Lake and east Deschutes counties where open water is generally absent Hear the call of the belted kingfisher Photo from ODFW

One of the characteristic birds of woodlands and city streets is this loud, colorful jay. Its bright blue-and-white-plumage and shrill calls are quite distinctive. It is closely related to the Steller's jay and hybrid individuals have been noted where their ranges overlap. It is an opportunistic forager of small animals and invertebrates, but is predominantly a vegetarian. It is a rare to regular visitor to eastern and western Oregon from late September to late April. The Blue jay prefers open mixed forests or deciduous groves and is often found in orchards and parks and along wooded city streets. Hear the…

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…

This dark, medium-sized finch with gray and pink highlights is the darkest of the rosy-finches and one of Oregon's rarest breeding birds. It is found in summer in montane areas above timberline, where loose swarms of these birds seem to blow like leaves among isolated cirques, cliffs, and hanging snowfields. In Oregon it breeds on Steens Mountain and may breed occasionally in the Wallowa Mountains. Winter distribution is poorly known, but birds have been found on the lower east side of Steens Mountain and in the Alvord Desert in winter and rarely in central Wallowa County. Hear the song of…

Chukars are ground-loving birds that quickly run uphill or burst from cover with rapid wing-beats and a characteristic whitoo call if alarmed. Introduced by managers wishing to increase hunting opportunities in arid western North America, the chukar is a very successful exotic species that occupies habitats where few other gamebirds exist. It is the most harvested upland bird in Oregon. It is a common permanent resident of eastern Oregon. Populations are distributed in steppe habitats along the breaks of the Columbia, John Day, Snake, Owyhee, Deschutes, Malheur, Burnt and Grand Ronde rivers and lesser watercourses or reservoirs. Hear the call…

California quail are the most widely distributed upland game birds in Oregon. Most easily recognized by the comma-shaped, black, plume, or "topknot," which bends forward and is larger on the male. It has been a resident statewide since the early 1900s, except for most forests of the north Coast Range and west Cascades; it is generally absent along the coast north of Coos Bay. California quail is also absent from high-elevation areas of the east Cascade range. They are common residents in rural and even some suburban areas, particularly in eastern Oregon where many coveys gather at feeding stations during…

One of the most impressive sights in the unforested regions east of the Cascades is a Prairie falcon strafing a Belding's ground squirrel colony repeatedly at full speed in hopes of catching one emerging from its burrow at just the wrong moment. Prairie falcons are most common in rimrock country where they nest, but may travel great distances in search of prey. Prairie falcons are large, sandy brown above and off-white with variable amounts of streaking below. The face has a vertical stripe below the eye, as do many falcons. In flight, the long, pointed wings and long tail identify…

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…

These chunky medium-small shorebirds are quite colorful in oranges and browns during most of their time in Oregon, where they are found mainly along the coast and locally in muddy areas inland. Their feeding motion has been likened to a sewing machine as flocks move slowly through shallow water and wet mud, probing with long straight bills. They are occasionally seen in marginal areas such as flooded pastures, but less likely than Long-billed to use such upland locations. They are a common to locally abundant coastal migrant, less common and more local in western interior valleys, and rare bur regular…

This medium-sized owl is easily recognized by its conspicuous "ear" tufts, yellow eyes set in a round facial disk, size, and mottled plumage of black, brown, gray, buff, and white. Legs and toes are densely feathered. Females are larger and darker in coloration than males. It is strictly nocturnal and secretive during nesting. The Long-eared owl is a fairly common breeder in open country east of the Cascades in wooded riparian areas and junipers. It is a common breeder on Boardman Bombing Range, Morrow County and widespread in Malheur County. It is a rare breeder in the foothills of the…

A group of twittering, tiny gray birds streaming through bushes and trees and across openings surely are Bushtits. Females' eyes are pale, males' dark. They are highly gregarious except when nesting. The intricately made sock-like nest is unusually large for the size of the bird. Bushtits show a distinct indifference to humans and regularly nest within residential neighborhoods and establish foraging routs throughout many cities. They regularly take suet at bird feeding stations and visit backyard birdbaths. The Bushtit is a fairly common resident throughout Oregon except in Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties and at higher elevations of mountain ranges…

The canyon mouse is a moderate to small-sized mouse-like rodent with a long tail, nearly naked ears and a long, lax, and silky dusty gray pelage. In Oregon, most locations where the canyon mouse has been found are in Harney and Malheur counties, but the distribution includes a group of localities in Crook, Jefferson, Wasco, and Wheeler counties and another group in Lake County. There are also records of the species in extreme southeastern Baker County. Rock, primarily rimrock and talus slopes, seems to be the key component of habitats occupied by the canyon mouse. They are usually active nocturnally…

Features: Both the male and female are gray or reddish-brown on the body with dark bars and spots throughout. They have variable tail colors but always have a black band near the tip. Habitat: Ruffed grouse are most commonly found in brushy riparian areas in eastern Oregon and in early-aged mixed woodlands in western Oregon, though birds may be found in pockets of good habitat nearly anywhere. Technique: The ruffed grouse is a bird of the edge, so look in edges of meadows, clearcuts, and where brushy growth meets timber. In September, when most ruffed grouse hunting takes place in…

These small, chunky plovers are uncommon to locally abundant migrants statewide, where they are among the most visible and easily identified small shorebirds. The only single-banded plover that occurs in Oregon, they can be remarkably easy to see when they are moving about on mud flats, and remarkably hard to detect when only their unmoving brown backs are visible against the mud. It is an uncommon to locally abundant migrant, with most birds at estuaries and some concentrations in spring at larger lakes of southeast Oregon. In the fall, it's rare in the Cascades; in winter, it's uncommon at larger…

This large arctic gull visits the Northwest in winter where its pale bulk often stands out in gull flocks. Finding one is a highlight of winter birding. Even at a distance the size and frosty tones of this bird can be spotted in a flock. Most Oregon birds are in the whitish first-or-second-year plumage showing a pinkish bill with sharply delineated black tip, but third-year birds and adults occur now and then, mainly on the north coast and at Sauvie Island. They are rare but regular along the coast and the Columbia River, and rare in the Willamette Valley. It…

Perhaps the most enigmatic hummingbird found regularly in Oregon, the Broad-tailed hummingbird has so far eluded documentation of its breeding in the state, likely due to identification uncertainties and the remoteness of its preferred habitat. Primarily a Rocky Mountain species, its hard-to-define breeding range seems to reach its limit at Oregon's eastern edges where reports of this beautiful and rare species arise each summer. The relatively large adult male has a rose-red gorget and green plumage with no dorsal Rufous coloration. Females and immatures are nearly indistinguishable in the field from those of the more common Rufous hummingbird. Hear the…

This striking songbird is best known for its habit of impaling prey on thorns and barbed wire, or wedging items in a v-shaped branch for easier handling and storage. The Loggerhead shrike breeds in open habitats east of the Cascades where they are rare but regular in the winter, especially at low-elevation sites. They are uncommon and declining in northeast Oregon. West of the Cascades, there are usually a few records each year during fall, winter, and spring in open habitats of the coast and the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue valleys. The Loggerhead shrike is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species…