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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…

Features: Bullheads present in Oregon are distinguished from channel catfish by their square or rounded tails and lack of spotting. They seldom exceed 18 inches in length and a weight of 2 pounds. Yellow bullheads are a more uniform yellow color with white or cream chin barbels and a rounded tail. Habitat: Bullheads are found on the bottom in the shallows of mud-bottomed ponds, lakes, reservoirs and backwaters of rivers. The yellow bullhead is found mainly in the Willamette basin. Technique: Bullheads can be caught any month of the year, but fishing is best from the first warm days of…

Adult clouded salamanders are generally brown with brassy patches on their backs and gray bellies. As salamanders age, the brassy color fades. The clouded salamander is one of the lungless salamander species; they breathe through their moist skin. Mature adults can grow to just over five inches in total length. Clouded salamanders prefer forest habitats or burned areas that provide large decaying logs or stumps. They are often found in Douglas fir trees where they can find burrows in the wood, or spaces just under the bark to hide. They may also hide deep in rock crevices during dry and…

Features: Their eyed-side is greenish-brown to dark brown or black with lighter blotches. Their blind side is white to milky-white. They have a large, stout but flat body, shaped like an elongated diamond . Pacific halibut have been known to reach 500 pounds, but on average are 40 pounds. Habitat: Halibut are a large flatfish and so they spend much time near the bottom of the ocean looking above for food. They prefer chilly water and are primarily found in the Gulf of Alaska. Technique: Boat anglers use heavy rods to fish on or near gravel bottoms in water 150-500…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Features: Bullheads found in Oregon are distinguished from channel catfish by their square or rounded tails and lack of spotting. They seldom exceed two pounds and 18-inches long. Brown bullheads are a mottled yellowish-brown with a yellow belly and dark chin “whiskers” or barbels that are white near the base. They have a square tail. Habitat: Bullheads are found on the bottom in the shallows of mud-bottomed ponds, lakes, reservoirs and backwaters of rivers. The brown species is common throughout the state. Technique: Bullheads can be caught any month of the year, but fishing is best from the first warm…

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…

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…

Features: Bullheads present in Oregon (brown, yellow and black) are distinguished from channel catfish by their square or rounded tails and lack of spotting. They seldom exceed two pounds and 18-inches long. Black bullheads have a square tail with a light vertical bar at its base and chin barbels that are all dark. Habitat: Bullheads are found on the bottom in the shallows of mud-bottomed ponds, lakes, reservoirs and backwaters of rivers. The black bullhead is primarily in reservoirs and streams tributary to the Snake River. Bullheads feed on almost any type of plant or animal material; insect larvae and…

Features: While in the ocean, Chinook salmon often have a purple hue to their backs with silvery sides and bellies, large oblong black spots on the back, and round black spots on both lobes of the tail (note that tail spotting may be obscured in ocean fish by “silver” in the tail). Upon returning to freshwater to spawn, Chinook darken in color and develop red on their bellies and fins. A key identifier is the black gum line on the lower jaw with dark colors both inside and outside of the gum line. Spawning generally occurs from August to early…