![image of a small flock of hen turkeys](/sites/default/files/styles/380x228/public/2020-09/Finding-turkeys.jpg?itok=QOFFWgzk)
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The golden-mantled ground squirrel doubtlessly is the most distinctively marked ground squirrel in Oregon; a white stripe bordered on both sides by a black stripe extends from the shoulder to the hip. From nose to nape above the eye, the head is russet. The back between the stripes is grizzled dark grayish-brown becoming less grizzled on the rump; lateral to the stripes the color grades to a light buffy-gold on the venter. The face, shoulders, front legs, and feet are a bright orangish-gold. This ground squirrel occupies the east slope of the Cascade Range and most of central Oregon, and
![GM_Ground_Squirrel_2_wray.jpg Golden-mantled ground squirrel](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/GM_Ground_Squirrel_2_wray_cx.jpg?itok=-KUSKKfH)
The California sea lion is the mid-sized Oregon otriid. The body is slender and tapering, the flippers are relatively small, and the rear flippers can be rotated beneath the body for moving on land. The short, course pelage lacks dense underfur; when dry, it usually is chocolate brown, but individuals with light-tan pelage are known to occur. The pelage appears black when wet. In older males, the pate is tan. The occurrence of the California sea lion along the Oregon coast is seasonal. The primary areas where it comes ashore are Cascade Head, Tillamook County; Cape Argo, Coos County; and
![36_juvenile_california_sea_lion_barry_odfw_0.jpg California sea lion](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-06/36_juvenile_california_sea_lion_barry_odfw_cx.jpg?itok=XaaaEdk6)
This dark colored salamander has a reddish-brown ragged edged stripe that runs along the top of the head to the tip of the tail with black or dark brown sides. It has a long body and tail and the belly is black with large white flecks. The Oregon slender salamander is a lungless salamander species, relying on its skin to breathe. Mature adults can grow to just under four inches in total length, with females about 12 percent larger than males. Oregon slender salamanders are most common in stable, moist old-growth (late successional and second-growth) forests where there are abundant
![Oregon_Slender_Salamander_OSU.jpg Oregon slender salamander](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/Oregon_Slender_Salamander_OSU_cx.jpg?itok=VMFvvpH4)
Features: Dungeness crab can sometimes be confused with rock or other crab species. However, it is easily identified by its white-tipped claws and reddish-brown to purple color. Habitat: Adult Dungeness crab forage on a number of fish and invertebrate species. They can be found throughout the sandy and muddy areas in the shallowest parts of lower estuaries all the way to depths of almost 1,500 feet. Techniques: There are many kinds of crab catchers – from crab pots and rings, to traps you can cast with a fishing rod. You can easily crab from a dock in many coastal bays
![5247_dungeness_munsel_odfw.jpg Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/5247_dungeness_munsel_odfw.jpg?itok=-JH3vwZH)
This sturdy-looking bird has a large head, short tail, and massive conical bill adapted for seed eating. The male plumage features bold patches of lemon yellow shading into olive, then brown and black, with white secondaries creating a flashy wing-patch easily seen in flight. The male's bill is chalky white in winter, but changes in early spring to a pale green that matches the new growth at the tips of spruce boughs, where they often nest. Many encounters with this species are of individuals heard flying high overhead, leaving the observer with little else to note. The Evening grosbeak is
![evening_grosbeak_pair_reesman_odfw.jpg Evening grosbeak](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/evening_grosbeak_pair_reesman_odfw_cx.jpg?itok=SdvGo2P3)
Greater sage-grouse are best known for their elaborate courtship displays that occur on traditional strutting grounds, known as leks, where males gather each spring. At all seasons, both sexes are readily identified by large size and chicken-like build. Adults are mottled dark gray, black and buff, with black bellies and pointed tails. Males have specializations used in display. Their tail feathers are long and pointed with white spots. They have yellow combs over each eye and a chest sac with two bare, yellow patches of skin which are inflated during display. The display lasts only a few seconds and is
![sage_grouse_male_ganskopp.jpg Sage grouse male](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/sage_grouse_male_ganskopp.jpg?itok=ZKgtgWsG)
In grass or sagebrush-dominated habitats throughout the state, the song and striking appearance of the Western meadowlark create one of the most familiar and endearing avian images in Oregon. It's one of Oregon's most recognizable birds with its bold yellow breast and belly with a distinct black V across the chest and its habit of perching on fences along roadsides. Fittingly, it was chosen as Oregon's state bird by a vote of Oregon schoolchildren ratified by the Legislature in 1927. It is one of the most widely distributed open-country species in the arid desert country of eastern Oregon. It can
![meadowlark_ganskopp.jpg Western meadowlark](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/meadowlark_ganskopp_cx.jpg?itok=fsxnJDrT)
The bright yellow, red, and black plumage of the male Western Tanager, so conspicuous in open situations is very obscure in forested areas where it tends to blend into the shaded foliage. The species perhaps is best known in migration when it visits city parks, orchards, and other open urban and suburban areas. It is attracted to birdbaths but seldom to bird feeders. It breeds in open coniferous forests and mixed coniferous and deciduous woodlands, primarily in mountains. They usually nest in conifers - rarely deciduous trees - at varying heights, usually well out on a branch, often at the
![056_western_tanager_swingle_odfw_0.jpg Western tanager](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/056_western_tanager_swingle_odfw.jpg?itok=fj4yi7t1)
The Northern harrier is a slender, medium-sized hawk characterized by a noticeably long tail, bold white rump patch, and owl-like face. Commonly encountered in large expanses of open country, its main hunting technique is through use of a distinctive buoyant, gliding flight low over the ground that relies heavily on visual as well as auditory cues to detect prey. The larger females have rich brown upperparts while adult males are mostly light to medium gray, sometimes appearing almost ghostly silvery-white. Males are noted for their high-spirited and acrobatic courtship displays, in particular a series of dives and barrel rolls in
![northern_harrier_2_nowak_odfw.jpg Northern harrier](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/northern_harrier_2_nowak_odfw.jpg?itok=wOOy6Fdz)
Bitterns, herons, and egrets are all long-legged wading birds with long necks and pointed bills for spearing fish or other prey.
![great_egret_am_budeau.jpg Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/great_egret_am_budeau.jpg?itok=QLcsh6P2)
Turkey behavior changes over a hunting season. So it helps to think a bit like a turkey when planning your strategy for finding turkeys and setting up your hunt. Spring turkey behavior By the time hunting season opens on April 15, most of the hen turkeys have already bred. Though they may not be sitting on their nests quite yet. This keeps tom turkeys close to the hens during the first few weeks of the season, making it difficult for hunters to lure toms away from hens and into shooting range. If tom numbers are low, they are less likely
![image of a small flock of hen turkeys](/sites/default/files/styles/380x228/public/2020-09/Finding-turkeys.jpg?itok=QOFFWgzk)
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
![black_rat_wikipedia.jpg Black Rat](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/800px-Roofrat_Hagenbeck_02_cx.jpg?itok=QA23pceT)
The Pacific white-sided dolphin is most abundant in the Southern California Bight in winter, but move further north, off Oregon and Washington in summer. These animals can be found from the tip of Baja to the Aleutians and the western Pacific from the Kuril Islands to Japan. They prefer deep, off-shore waters, so sightings are usually limited to recreational and commercial fishers. The Pacific white-sided dolphin is about seven or eight feet long. It has three colors: the chin, throat and belly are creamy white; the beak, flippers, back, and dorsal fin are a dark gray, and there are light
![pacific_whitesided_dolphin_Frans_schouwenburg_flickr.jpg Pacific white-sided dolphin](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-06/pacific_whitesided_dolphin_Frans_schouwenburg_flickr_cx.jpg?itok=dUOZzLNA)
Sporting the form of a curlew, this medium-sized marsh wader is almost always found in flocks, flying in formation and quacking like ducks. Their long, down-curved bill complements their long neck and legs. Although their feathers appear black, a closer look will reveal an iridescence of bronze, purple, maroon, and green. They are named for their "white face" which appears in alternate plumage as a narrow border of white feathers along the edge of their reddish-purple facial skin, delineating a mask around the red eye. The White-faced ibis has extended its breeding grounds in Oregon to wetlands in Harney, Lake
![4441_white_faced_ibis_gilson.jpg White-faced ibis](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/white-faced_ibis_sandra_Uecker_usfws_cx.jpg?itok=1b1bKghx)
The Sharp-shinned hawk is North America's smallest and most migratory accipiter. As a hunter of songbirds (and sometimes young chickens) it historically endured harsh reproach, and was often depicted as a blood-thirsty villain, even by some ornithologists. Across the U.S., many thousands were shot in the first half of the 20th century. But prevailing attitudes have changed, and today a glimpse of this slender, secretive hawk darting through the treetops is more likely to elicit admiration than malice. Adult plumage, nearly identical to the slightly larger Cooper's hawk, consists of slate gray back and wings, breast and sides barred with
![sharp_shinned_hawk_horiz_ganskopp.jpg Sharp-shinned hawk](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2023-05/sharp_shinned_hawk_horiz_ganskopp_0.jpg?itok=bavZP_Cp)
Sea turtles are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for conservation and recovery of sea turtles in the marine environment, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is lead on conservation and recovery of sea turtles on nesting beaches.
![loggerhead_turtle_debora_sujono_flickr.jpg Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/loggerhead_turtle_debora_sujono_flickr.jpg?itok=D_xp_EsL)
Oregon has two species of pelicans, American white and the Brown pelican, and three species of cormorants. All are fish-eating water birds with four toes joined by webbing. Depending on the species, pelicans and cormorants inhabit the Oregon coast, rivers or interior waterbodies.
![309_american_white_pelicans_shipley_odfw.jpg Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/309_american_white_pelicans_shipley_odfw.jpg?itok=PvI4jUZw)
![2210_mule_deer_hunt_ashenbrenner_odfw.jpg Thumbnail](/sites/default/files/styles/232x139/public/2210_mule_deer_hunt_ashenbrenner_odfw.jpg?itok=VQZsqhM6)
Need to figure out controlled hunts, find a place to clam, learn how to fish or get directions to a wildlife area? We've got information on all that and more, straight from ODFW biologists and other accomplished hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers. Header image by Dave Budeau
![Deer hunters](/sites/default/files/styles/380x228/public/0907_deer_hunters_budeau.jpg?itok=N_Rqqn1y)
The text for this turkey hunting course was originally written by Scott Haugen and edited by Jessica Sall. Videos were produced by Scott Haugen. Special thanks to the National Wild Turkey Federation for sharing many of the photos used in this course. Additional photos were from Scott Haugen and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
![image of two tom turkeys talking trash](/sites/default/files/styles/380x228/public/2020-09/Sounds-turkeys-make-NWTF.jpg?itok=YBB5JryG)