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Merriam's ground squirrel is one of the two small gray ground squirrels in Oregon without stripes or spots. Most of the geographic range of this squirrel is in Oregon, where it occurs south and east of a line connecting Huntington, North Powder, Maupin, Warm Springs, Bend, and Fort Rock, Summer Lake, and Plush. This species does not occur south of the North Fork Owyhee River in Malheur County. These ground squirrels emerge in early March, breed, rear their young, become exceedingly fat and go into their hibernacula by early August. Photo by ©John Rakestraw

Bitterns, herons, and egrets are all long-legged wading birds with long necks and pointed bills for spearing fish or other prey.

Fun little birds to watch, chickadees and nuthatches are common in Oregon. With short, strong bills, they feed on insects and seeds and are often seen in groups.

Cassin's auklet uses a few offshore lands for breeding in Oregon. It forages in the marine environment and nests in a chamber under rocks or digs its own burrow, two to six feet long, in the soil. This species spends its day at sea and only comes to the burrow at night, perhaps to reduce discovery by predacious Western gulls. Although few Cassin's auklets nest in Oregon, nesting sites are found along the entire coast where offshore rocks provide appropriate habitat. During the non-breeding season this is the most abundant alcid seen at sea in Oregon. They are present offshore…

The Hammond's flycatcher spends much of its time in tall conifer canopies, where its subdued plumage and quiet, monotonous chant let it be easily overlooked. A diligent observer may be able to locate this aerial insectivore on a dead limb just beneath the live crowns of mature conifers from which it sallies into a canopy gap to capture insect prey on the wing. It is a common summer resident of montane coniferous forests through the state, on both sides of the Cascades. Hear the song of the Hammond's flycatcher Photo by Keith Williams, Flickr

Towhees, sparrows, grosbeaks and buntings are ground-dwelling birds that are typically drab looking. They feed on insects in summer and seeds in winter.

These diving birds are built for living on the water, floating low on the surface with legs farther to the rear to help propel them underwater. Loons have webbed feet, grebes have lobed toes.

Murres, auklets and puffins are all sea birds that only come ashore to nest. The most unique is the Marbled murrelet which flies inland - sometimes great distances - to nest in coastal coniferous forests.

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.‌

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…

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.

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…

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…