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The nasal meow of the Franklin's gull can be heard as it soars above wetlands and meadows, and colonies of this species are reported to be the loudest of all the gulls. In breeding plumage, the black hood contrasts sharply with the white breast and bright red bill. This species depends much more on insects and other invertebrates than do other gulls, and is therefore considered economically beneficial and favored by farmers. The Franklin's gull occurs in the southeast portion of the state in spring and summer, especially Harney Basin. It is rare west of the Cascades. It nests locally…

The Common nighthawk is a migrant to Oregon with one of the longest migration distances of any North American bird. It is also one of the last to arrive in Oregon. Long, slender wings are marked by a white patch on the "hand" visible in flight from great distances. When perched on the ground, the cryptic brown, gray, and black mottling makes the bird almost invisible. This bird breeds and migrates at all elevations through the state. Its nesting habitat is characterized by open landscapes with little ground cover and is most abundant in sagebrush and rocky scablands and rimrock…

Shadow-colored skulkers in dense riparian growth, catbirds are among the often heard, less frequently seen denizens of northeast Oregon. They are all dark gray except for a black cap and russet undertail coverts. The sound has variable melodious warblings with occasional imitations of other birds and off-key noises. A distinct mewing call is often heard. The Gray catbird is a fairly common breeder in dense riparian zones of the northeast Blue Mountain ecoregion and is common in the Wallowa and Union counties and in east Umatilla County along the Umatilla River, Pine Creek and Meacham Creek. They breed locally in…

The male Red-winged blackbird, sentry of the marsh during the breeding season, continually announces its territory to all present with its oak-a-tee song, and tenaciously defends against flyby predators. The male is territorial, polygynous, larger than the female, and glossy black with a broad bar of red-orange, bordered with yellow, on wing writs. Females are less conspicuous in behavior, light brown, with a heavily streaked breast, and buffy supercilium. This is one of the most abundant and studied birds in North America. The Red-winged blackbird occurs west of the Cascades in Oregon from coastal and valley locations, and east of…

Formerly known as the Green-backed goldfinch, this species was either not present or overlooked during the 19th century by most Oregon ornithologists. The male's black forecrown contrasts smartly with the greenish back and bright yellow underparts. Females lack the clear contrasting colors of the males, though the tips of the secondary coverts and the base of the primaries are white in both sexes. Often the plaintive tee-yee call reveals the presence of the bird long before it is seen. In the north Willamette Valley the Lesser goldfinch is a fairly common breeder along the western fringe. Scattered and local in…

This bat, found in older forests, has a wingspan of about 10 inches. Its fur is glossy black, tipped with white. It forages over ponds, streams, meadows and roads, often flying very low and roosting behind loose tree bark. Maternity roosts of the silver-haired bat are found in trees. This bat usually bears twins. The silver-haired bat occurs statewide in Oregon except for most of the Columbia Basin and is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in all ecoregions except the Nearshore ecoregion. It is primarily associated with coniferous forests, including the juniper woodlands in the southeastern portion of the state…

The Ermine is the smallest member of the genus in Oregon. It has a long, cylindrical neck and body and short legs, but the tail is relatively short. The head is flattened and somewhat triangular, the eyes are small and slightly protruding, and the ears are rounded. The summer pelage is brown dorsally, usually white or yellowish ventrally; in some individuals the throat and belly are splotched with brown or are entirely brown. In some populations east of the Cascade Range, ermines replace brown summer pelage with a white winter pelage. The tip of the tail remains black at all…

The Western spotted skunk is smaller and more weasel-like than the Striped skunk. The pelage is black with a somewhat pentagonal white patch between the eyes, a round white patch on each side of the head and four or six segmented white body stripes. This skunk is endowed with a muscle-encapsulated musk gland similar to those of the Striped skunk and so similarly, can eject musk from two papillae located under the tail. The odor of the musk is considered somewhat more pungent or acrid but is less spreading than that of the Striped skunk. In Oregon, this skunk occurs…

A thick body, small head and coloration similar to a killer whale make this dolphin easy to recognize. Dall’s porpoise is mostly black with a large white patch on the belly and flanks. The small dorsal fin is partly white and the trailing edges of the tail are frosted white. About seven feet long and weighing around 400 pounds, Dall’s live only in the north Pacific. Dall’s are the fastest of all small cetaceans and can swim at up to 35 miles per hour, almost as fast as a killer whale. When swimming at the surface they create a characteristic…

Appropriately named, adult long-toed salamanders have extremely long toes on their hind feet. Adults have black or brown skin that is smooth and moist with a yellow ragged-edged stripe running from its head to the tip of its tail. It is speckled with white or silver dots along its sides and underside. Adults may grow up to more than six inches in total length. Adult long-toed salamanders are seen infrequently, as they spend most of the year in the ground. They find cover in a variety of habitats including grasslands, dry shrub-steppe, pastures, lowland forests, high elevation lakes and ponds…

Of Oregon's breeding seabirds, Leach's storm-petrel is the smallest, most pelagic, and flies the farthest offshore of any of Oregon's breeding seabirds to feed. It spends the non-breeding season in the subtropical and equatorial Pacific. It is the second most abundant breeding seabird in Oregon, and is rarely seen from land or close to shore. It comes to its breeding islands, where it nests in burrows, only under the cover of darkness. Its plumage is black and Oregon populations have a distinct white rump. Leach's storm-petrels are long lived birds characterized by long-term pair bonds and may breed yearly for…

With its long, decurved bill, the black and cinnamon Virginia rail probes the mud for much of its food. Its narrow body is specially designed for slipping through a densely vegetated marsh, so it rarely has to move away from cover. Known for its staccato kidik, kidik call, this rail also contributes grunts, clicks, churs, squeaks, skeeuws, and quack-like noises to the marsh chorus. In Oregon, this is a rare to locally abundant breeder. In western Oregon it breeds in freshwater and brackish marshes. In eastern Oregon, large marshes in Klamath, Lake, and Harney counties host numerous breeders each year…

The red tree vole is a medium-sized vole. It is uniquely colored among North American voles: bright orangish-red to cinnamon on the dorsum, silvery gray (often with some light orangish hairs) on the venter, and a tail pale orangish on the venter grading to black on the dorsum. This vole is endemic to western Oregon. It occurs at moderate elevations on the west slope of the Cascade Range southward as far as the Douglas-Jackson county line and in the Coast Range to the Oregon-California border. It is largely arboreal and builds nests on suitable foundations (commonly nests of birds or…

The Long-tailed weasel is the larger of the two weasels in Oregon, but smaller than the other member of the genus, the mink. Males are considerably larger than females. The head is flattened and somewhat triangular; the body and neck are elongate and almost cylindrical; the legs are short, and the tail is long. The summer pelage is brown dorsally; the venter is yellowish to orangish except for a white chin and sometimes one or more scattered brown spots. The tip of the tail is black. The pelage is molted twice annually. In the Cascade Range and eastward through the…

Features: Before spawning, sockeye salmon are silvery on their sides, white on their bellies, and dark blue on their backs. When spawning, their heads turn green with black on the snout and upper jaw, and their bodies turn red. They can be 24- to 33- inches long and weight between 5 and 15 pounds. Habitat: Many sockeye populations require a lake for part of their life cycle. Spawning may occur along lake shorelines or in stream gravels, but fry usually migrate to lake environments soon after emergence and occupy this habitat during their stay in fresh water. Technique: Sockeye salmon…

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…

Features: The Pacific sanddab is left-eyed, meaning both eyes are on the left side of the body. The eyed-side is dull light brown, mottled with brown or black, and sometimes yellow or orange. The blind-side is off-white to tan. They have an oval shaped body with large scales. They can grow to be 16-inches long and up to 2 pounds, though most weigh less than 1/3 pound. Habitat: As you probably guessed, sanddabs like to hang out on sandy bottoms. They are most abundant at depths of 20-50 fathoms, and are common in shallow coastal waters from British Columbia to…

Features: The drake has a red head, black breast and tail coverts, and steel gray back, flanks and tail. Hens are a medium brown. During courtship, the drake utters a very unduck-like meow. Habitat: This diving duck is a locally common breeding species throughout the marshes of eastern Oregon such as Ladd Marsh, Summer Lake, the Warner Wetlands, and Malheur NWR. Known for nest parasitism, laying eggs in the nests of other birds, usually other diving ducks, redhead eggs have also been found in the nests of a variety of species. Techniques: The redhead is a very uncommon winter resident…

Features: Canada geese come in many sizes and colorations. All have the same general long, black neck and white chinstrap. Their breast color can range from light gray to a dark brown. Habitats: Canada geese have become abundant in many city parks and agricultural fields where forage grasses are available. They can be found floating in bays, estuaries, rivers, reservoirs and lakes as well. Techniques: Canada geese can be hunted like other waterfowl. From jump shooting to calling birds into a decoy spread, Canada goose hunting can be productive. Note: If you want to hunt geese in Northwest Oregon, a…

Features: Columbian sharp-tailed grouse are brown-gray with small black and white markings, a white underside, and a short tail that is white at the base. They are a medium-sized grouse. Both the males and females have a yellow-orange comb over each eye. Habitat: Columbian sharp-tailed grouse were historically found in most counties of eastern Oregon. These birds preferred the bunchgrass prairies interspersed with stream bottoms containing deciduous shrubs and trees. This habitat was particularly common in north-central Oregon and the Columbia Basin. Technique: In 1929, Oregon closed its hunting season for sharp-tailed grouse and it has never re-opened. By the…