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While recreationally harvesting green crab has been allowed for decades, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission recently increased the daily bag limit to 35 crab. This gives recreational shellfishers an opportunity to help native shellfish by taking more of these invaders home. European green crab are an invasive species in Oregon. While recreational harvest is allowed (35 per day), harvesters must correctly identify these crabs (see below) as they often are mistaken for native species. Commercially harvesting green crab is prohibited. Green crab: Compete with native crabs for food. Larger green crab may eat smaller native shellfish. May disturb eelgrass

Western pond turtles prefer marshes, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. They need sparse vegetation nearby for digging nests and like to bask on logs. Population declines are due to habitat loss, degradation of nesting areas by invasive plants, competition from non-native turtles and disease. Predators include raccoons and invasive bullfrogs and fish. Western pond turtles are Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Coast Range, East and West Cascades, Klamath Mountains and Willamette Valley ecoregions. Photo by Simon Wray, ODFW

This snake is found in meadows and at the edges of clearings in forests. It prefers areas with dense vegetation but, when basking, can be found in open areas or on talus slopes. It occurs in wooded areas on the floor of the Willamette Valley and has been found in the Rogue Valley. This garter snake is commonly found in suburban areas and city parks. The Northwestern garter snake feeds mainly on slugs and earthworms, but also takes insects, small salamanders, frogs, fish, small mammals, and possibly nestlings of ground nesting birds. Photo by J. Maughn, Flickr

Much variability in coloration exists in the common garter snake but the best identifying characteristic is a stripe down the middle of the snake's back. While the common garter snake frequents wet meadows and forest edges, it occurs in a variety of habitats far from water, including open valleys and moist coniferous forest. Smaller snakes eat earthworms, but adults feed on a variety of vertebrate prey, including frogs, toads, salamanders, birds, fish, reptiles, and small mammals. Invertebrates, including slugs and leeches, are also eaten. Photo by Dave Budeau, ODFW

Seeing killer whales off the Oregon coast is a rare treat, but whale watchers can usually count on a pod of orca’s patrolling the coast in mid-April – just in time to intercept baby gray whales. Orcas are most often seen in the ocean off Depoe Bay and Newport, but can be spotted coastwide. The first thing you are likely to see when sighting killer whales is their dorsal fin. Male orcas have a dorsal fin that can be six feet in height, juveniles and females have shorter fins. These large fins can be seen from quite a distance. There

The ears of the pygmy rabbit are short, rounded, and covered with long silky hairs inside and out; the tail is small and covered with hairs possessing wide buffy bands with narrow blackish tips above and below; and the feet are short, densely furred below, and colored a light orangy-buff. In Oregon, pygmy rabbits have been found east and south of a line connecting Klamath Falls, Fremont, Redmond, and Baker City. This rabbit is closely tied to habitats dominated by big sagebrush. The Pygmy rabbit is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion. Photo from

This species is found in a variety of habitats. To make matters more confusing, four subspecies are found in Oregon, each of which has somewhat different habitat preferences. All can be found in moist areas such as marshes and lake or stream margins, but two may occur some distance from water. The diet varies among subspecies; the more aquatic forms feed on fish, frogs, tadpoles, and leeches, which are eaten in the water. Terrestrial forms take frogs and toads, but also lizards, small mammals, salamanders and slugs. Photo by David Bronson, ODFW

Commonly found along beaches and about estuaries, this large, ponderous bird is a conspicuous member of the summer coastal community, easily recognized by its large size, massive bill, and brownish plumage. Highly gregarious, it often forms large flocks; regularly observed foraging over the ocean just offshore. Brown pelicans often join mixed flocks of birds attracted to schools of small fish. They are common spring, summer, and fall visitors along the Oregon coast. Brown pelicans are an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Nearshore ecoregion. Hear the call of the brown pelican Photo by Michael Lazott

Adult tiger salamanders are relatively large with olive-colored blotches outlined in black. They have gray undersides and can grow to 13 inches in total length. As adults, tiger salamanders live almost entirely on land, returning to the water to breed. Terrestrial adults spend a lot of time in burrows that they or other animals have dug. Tiger salamanders are found in grassland and shrub-steppe habitats. It is unknown whether tiger salamanders occurs naturally in Oregon, or whether they were introduced by people after larval salamanders used for bait colonized fishing lakes and ponds. Photo by Matt Reinbold, Flickr

One of Oregon's rarest breeders, this distinctive "shorebird" is known for its courtship display flight and loud curlew-like call. it often perches in pine trees or on fence posts adjacent to nesting areas. A small plover-like head and short, strait bill seem out of proportion to its body, which is reminiscent of a small curlew. The Upland sandpiper is a rare breeder in large montane meadows within forests of eastern Oregon. They are almost never observed away form the breeding grounds in Oregon. The Upland sandpiper is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Blue Mountains ecoregion. Hear the call

Heermann's gulls, the warm-water gulls of summer and fall, accompany Brown pelicans as they fly north each summer. Although most feed along the shore or in the ocean, some feed on tide flats. They often steal food from Brown pelicans. They may take fish directly from the pelicans' bills immediately after a dive or claim food that pelicans have located, discarded, or disturbed. This gull is common on the outer seacoasts, beaches, bays and estuaries. They are strongly associated with outer coasts and adjacent ocean waters, usually within a few miles of shore. A few wander inland during the fall

A slender, orange bill, pearl gray upperparts, and fringed black crest adjoining a white face and neck indeed render this graceful hunter from the south elegant. The foreheads of adults turn white in post-breeding plumage, their usual state in Oregon. These terns frequent quiet waters or lagoons when diving for fish, but also dive in calm ocean waters. They roost with flocks of gulls and other terns on coastal spits, estuarine sandbars, and on mudflats close to bay mouths. Virtually all records of the Elegant tern in Oregon are coastal or within half a mile of shore. None have been

Though less conspicuous than Great blue herons, Green herons are well-established residents of western Oregon. They are distinguished by small size, glossy greenish-black cap and back, yellow legs, blackish-green wings, gray underparts, and dark red neck. One of the few tool-using birds, Green herons are experts at making and using baits and lures, such as bread crusts, mayflies, earthworms, sticks, and feathers to catch fish. The Green heron is an uncommon but regular migrant and summer resident throughout west and south central Oregon. Detection of nests is difficult and breeding status uncertain in some areas due to its secretive habits

This mid-sized, pink-legged gull has caused much of the confusion in west coast gull classification and identification. Its plumage characteristics are similar to Herring, Iceland, and some Glaucous-winged hybrids, and great care is needed for correct identification. It differs from the Herring gull in having a much smaller bill, a darker eye, less black in the wing-tips and, often, a more rounded head. Opportunistic feeders, Thayer's gulls regularly concentrate about landfills, food-processing plants, and over fish runs. It is a common migrant and fairly common winter visitor along the coast. The largest wintering numbers are found in the Portland metropolitan

Skuas are the size of a Western gull, dark with a pale nape and large white patches on the bases of the primaries on both the upper and lower surfaces. This is a solitary bird. Its flight is low and direct with heavy flapping and little gliding. It steals food from other seabirds, and is aggressive, bordering on predatory. It may grab a shearwater's head, wing, or tail and shake and kick the bird until it regurgitates its food. Chances of detection are best around flocks of shearwaters feeding behind fishing boats. It is a rare to uncommon fall transient

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

A white form on the distant water may be the sides and breast of an adult male, whose deep green head and dark back are less visable when far away. The pearl gray bodies and white breasts of females, subadults, and eclipse males are starkly delineated from their full-crested chestnut heads. Long, slender, saw-tooth bills are held horizontally during surface swimming and grip squirming prey after an underwater chase. From coastal bays to the high Cascades, in all corners of Oregon and far beyond, common mergansers ply the rivers and peer into still waters in their efficient pursuit of fish

These small, fast flying seabirds are unique among alcids in North America in their use of coastal coniferous forests, primarily old-growth trees, as nesting habitat. Their solitary nests are usually concealed within the forest canopy, and breeding birds are cryptic and primarily crepuscular at nest sites. Because of their secretive behavior and elusive nests, Marbled murrelets were considered the "enigma of the Pacific" and were one of the last ornithological mysteries in North America, as the first nest was not discovered until 1974. Distribution at inland nesting sites is fragmented, as birds occur only in areas where suitable habitat remains

In quiet backwaters and wooded wetlands, these stunning ducks can occasionally be seen skulking near the shoreline as they search for fish. The male with a striking black head and extensible white crest, white breast, black back, and chestnut sides is truly a sight to behold. Females and immatures are quite plain by comparison: dull grayish-brown except for a reddish brown crest. Hooded mergansers are surprisingly secretive and local during the breeding season. They breed locally throughout the Willamette Valley west to the coast and south to Coos County. They are casual from April to early October in the Umpqua