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Although quite common in the U.S., the Black-crowned night-heron's nocturnal and crepuscular feeding habits can make it difficult to locate. Its habitat consists of marshes, lakes, rivers, and other wetlands, where it feeds mostly on fish. It is a thick-billed, medium-sized, stocky heron with relatively short neck and legs. Adults have a black back and cap which contrast with the pale gray or whitish underparts. Immatures have brown backs with large pale spots and heavily streaked underparts. A distinctive choking squawk call is often heard at dusk. It is a fairly common summer resident east of the Cascades where it…

The bobcat is the smallest wild felid in Oregon, with females being considerably smaller than males. The bobcat is about twice the size of a domestic cat, but its legs are longer, its tail is shorter, and its body is more muscular and compact. The feet are relatively small and the bobcat is not well adapted to negotiate deep snow. In general, the variously spotted pelage is yellowish with grayish overtones in winter and with reddish overtones in summer, reflecting the two annual molts. The ears are black with a large white spot and are equipped with short black tufts…

Features: Greater sage-grouse are a large grouse species. They are mottled gray-brown with black undersides. Males have black on the head and throat, while females have white behind their eyes. Habitat: Sage-grouse were originally found through much of the sagebrush dominated areas of eastern Oregon, but were eliminated from large areas by the mid 1900s through conversion of land for agricultural purposes. There has been little change in sage-grouse range, however since the 1950s. They live exclusively in sagebrush steppe habitat. During dry years, they may be concentrated in the vicinity of water sources. Technique: Due to greater sage-grouse fluctuating…

The kit fox is the smallest canid that occurs in Oregon. It has the typical canid conformation: the body is slim, the legs are long and thin, and the ears are large and erect. The tail is about 40 percent of the total length and is tipped with black, but has no dark mane on the dorsal surface. The feet and legs are whitish interiorly, light rusty-brown posteriorly. The dorsum is grizzled brownish-gray medially blending to grizzled gray then to light buff laterally and finally to white on the chest and venter. The head and posterior surface of the ears…

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…

The Canada lynx is only slightly larger than the bobcat. Nevertheless, long legs and long fur produce the illusion that the lynx is considerably larger than it actually is. Documented accounts of wild lynx are rare and lynx are not expected to currently reside in Oregon. However, if lynx were to be observed, it is likely to occur at higher elevations such as in the Cascade Range, Blue Mountains or Wallowa Mountains. Habitats used by lynx often are defined in terms of habitats used by their primary prey species, thus good snowshoe hare habitat usually is considered to be good…

The bighorn sheep is a medium-sized, largely brownish bovid with a white rump patch, muzzle, venter, and rear portion of the legs. The tail is blackish brown on the exposed surface. The hooves are equipped with a rubberlike pad that facilitates negotiating rocky terrain. The ears are relatively small and somewhat pointed. Both sexes are equipped with horns; those of males are massive and spiral outward, whereas those of females are relatively thin, recurved, and mostly directed upward and posteriorly. Horn growth reflects nutritional status. Bighorn sheep are capable of moving with speed and agility through the precipitous terrain in…

In Oregon, the nutria is considered an invasive species. The nutria is a large rat-like semiaquatic rodent. The species has a hunched body; a round, nearly hairless tail; a valvular mouth and nose; and pentadactyl feet with naked soles. The toes of the hind feet, except for the hallux, are included in a web. As an adaption to the aquatic environment, the eyes, nostrils, and small ears are set high on the sides. The pelage consists of long, course guard hairs and soft, dense underfur. Overall, the color usually ranges from dark brown to yellow-brown. The muzzle is frosted with…

The gray fox is among the smaller canids in Oregon. The basic color of the gray fox is grizzled gray, but the stiff middorsal hairs have long black tips that extend onto the tail as a black mane. Guard hairs are banded white, gray, and black. The throat, venter, and inside of the legs are white; a cinnamon-rufous border to the white throat extends on the flanks and underside of the tail A blackish patch on the side of the face extends onto the lower jaw and a grayish black "exclamation point" extends upward from the interior margin of each…