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Anna's hummingbird is the largest hummingbird common to our region. It is the only hummingbird regularly found in Oregon in winter, during which time it is exposed to short day lengths, limited sources of food and periods of intense cold. It is more vocal than most hummingbirds with males uttering a dry, scratchy buzz of a song that can be heard throughout the year. It is a rare to locally uncommon summer resident west of the Cascades in interior valleys and along the coast; also along the Columbia River east to The Dalles. It occurs and probably breeds into the
Dashing and darting about, flashing its bright white underparts, the Violet-green Swallow is one of the characteristic birds of summer. Unlike the Tree Swallow it commonly nests in niches and cavities on urban buildings and readily uses nesting boxes in residential areas. Its soft twittery call notes are a familiar pre-dawn sound as they fly about overhead. The Violet-green swallow is a very early spring migrant concentrating about streams and wetlands where emerging insects can be found until warmer weather allows them to move into more upland areas. It is a common to abundant summer resident and breeding species throughout
A white form on the distant water may be the sides and breast of an adult male, whose deep green head and dark back are less visable when far away. The pearl gray bodies and white breasts of females, subadults, and eclipse males are starkly delineated from their full-crested chestnut heads. Long, slender, saw-tooth bills are held horizontally during surface swimming and grip squirming prey after an underwater chase. From coastal bays to the high Cascades, in all corners of Oregon and far beyond, common mergansers ply the rivers and peer into still waters in their efficient pursuit of fish
Even in the most barren and desolate reaches of the Great Basin, the cheerful song of the hardy Rock wren will contradict any notion that the desert is devoid of life. This specialist of cracks and crevices can be found almost anywhere there is exposed rock. One of its most unique features is the mysterious pebble path is constructs from its stone-cave nest to the outside entrance. Drab and pale overall, the gray head and back, white to tawny underparts, and gray tail with buff-tipped corners distinguish this species from other wrens. The Rock wren is a common breeder in
This moderately small wren maintains the frenetic energy that is so obviously typical of this family of birds. It is a summer inhabitant in many parts of Oregon, generally in open woodlands, thickets, and occasionally in residential gardens. The House wren occurs over the widest latitudinal range of any New World passerine. The House wren nests in a wide variety of native and human-influenced habitats. Nest sites are primarily located within preformed cavities in snags. It is a very uncommon to common transient and summer resident in semi-open woodland habitats throughout the state. In southwest Oregon, it is most common
The Veery is known less for its appearance than for its ethereal song, a series of spiraling, reverberating flutelike notes, each lower in pitch, suggesting the name: vee-ur, vee-ur, vee-ur. A patient observer may get a fleeting glimpse of a small thrush with reddish brown upperparts, pale undersides, and a buffy upper breast with a few darker spots. It is an uncommon breeder in lower to middle elevations in the Blue Mountains where sufficient riparian thickets exist for cover and forage needs. It is locally common along watercourses in Union, Wallowa, and east Umatilla counties, and less common in north
Features: Spiny dogfish are gray or brown with white spots on their back and a white belly. They can grow to be 5-feet long. They are called "spiny" as they have a spine behind each of the fins on their backs. Habitat: Spiny dogfish are widely dispersed, traveling from Alaska to Chile, and from intertidal waters down to 3,000 feet. They mostly eat small fish, squid, and octopus. Techniques: Being relatively small, spiny dogfish can be taken with light tackle. They tend to school around prey over soft bottoms. A good amount of weight will probably be necessary to keep
Features: Coastal cutthroat trout are typically are blue/green on top, red along the lateral line, and white on the belly. They are lightly or heavily spotted and adults have a red slash mark on the throat. Habitat: The most common variety of trout in Oregon is the coastal cutthroat, found in the streams and beaver ponds in coastal drainages. They also are stocked in high mountain hike-in lakes where the water stays cool throughout the summer. Techniques: Cutthroats that are year-round residents of small streams may not get any bigger than 8- or 9-inches, but can reward the angler with
This medium-sized shorebird is the most common dowitcher in eastern Oregon and inland locations, where it sometimes gathers in large flocks feeding in shallow water. It is also the only dowitcher in the state that regularly winters. Although breeding plumage adults are reddish below and heavily patterned above, most birds seen in Oregon are duller postbreeding adults or browner immatures. During winter, when shorebirds are hard to find, a small flock of chattering dowitchers, even in plain gray basic plumage, often brightens a day in western Oregon. In migration, it can be found at almost any shallow water site in
Cryptically colored, usually solitary and somewhat secretive, the Wilson snipe is often flushed before being seen, sometimes exploding from practically underfoot and rocketing off in a corkscrew flight. This plump-bodied, long-billed bird of open marshland is primarily crepuscular, peaking in feeding activity at dusk and dawn, and often sleeping during the day. In breeding season they become more flamboyant, appearing atop fence posts and displaying their unique winnowing flights from high in the air, their outer tail feathers vibrating with an eerie whistling sound. They are uncommon and local west of the Cascades in the summer and uncommon and local
These small, fast flying seabirds are unique among alcids in North America in their use of coastal coniferous forests, primarily old-growth trees, as nesting habitat. Their solitary nests are usually concealed within the forest canopy, and breeding birds are cryptic and primarily crepuscular at nest sites. Because of their secretive behavior and elusive nests, Marbled murrelets were considered the "enigma of the Pacific" and were one of the last ornithological mysteries in North America, as the first nest was not discovered until 1974. Distribution at inland nesting sites is fragmented, as birds occur only in areas where suitable habitat remains
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: The name “cutthroat” is derived from the two red slash marks or streaks on the underside of the lower jaw. Lahontans don't develop the intense crimson or gold coloration that other subspecies do, but the males can develop some red on their sides. Spots on the head can help distinguish this subspecies from other inland cutthroat subspecies. Habitat: This variety has adapted to the dry, highly alkaline waters and was once widespread throughout the Lahontan Basin of California, Nevada and southeast Oregon. Today, native populations can be found in the Whitehorse and Willow creek basins in the far southeastern
The Turkey vulture, known locally as a "buzzard," is a common sight spring through fall throughout the state, except in the highest mountains and featureless desert expanses in summer where they are uncommon. Seeing Turkey vultures returning is a welcome sign of spring. Turkey vultures are large-winged soaring birds with overall dark plumage except for a silvery sheen on the undersides of the flight feathers. Adults have small, featherless, red heads, while juveniles have gray heads. The Turkey vulture is a common to abundant transient throughout the state and an uncommon to common summer resident except in high mountains. It
This stocky, medium-sized shorebird is a denizen of Oregon's rocky shoreline, foraging as close to the crashing waves as possible, hence its name. It uses the rocky intertidal zone which includes jetties, offshore rocks and rocky shorelines, sea stacks, and tidal pools and is occasionally found on sandy beaches interspersed with groups of rocks, and on mudflats near the mouth of the Coquille River. It sometimes uses freshwater outfalls for bathing. Birds wintering in Oregon have the upperparts, head, neck, and breast slate gray with a whitish eye-ring. Indistinct supercilium and chin are white, wheres the belly and abdomen are
The European starling is considered an invasive species in Oregon. It was introduced from Europe. They most closely resemble blackbirds, with which they often flock in fall and winter. While both have iridescent plumage, starlings can be told from blackbirds by their two-toned wing pattern - dark upperwing, pale underwing - and during the breeding season by the bright yellow bill. Starlings adapt readily and quickly to human habitation and are highly efficient and successful breeders. However, the abundance of the bird, the rapidity with which it has spread across North America, and its propensity to cause damage to crops
The song of the Yellow-headed blackbird, if it can be called a song as it lacks any musical quality, is a familiar sound in the marshes particularly of central and southeastern Oregon. The male, with its yellow head, neck, and breast, black body and wings, and white wig patches, is unmistakable. The female is more subtle with its dusky or sooty brown body plumage and yellow cheeks, chin, throat and chest, but is also distinctive. It is an abundant spring and summer resident in marshes of large alkaline lakes and wetlands in southeast Oregon, most notably the Klamath, Summer, Malheur
Features: Like all cutthroat trout, this species boasts bright red streaks on either side of its “throat.” You can tell it’s a westslope cutthroat by its spot pattern – the majority of the black spots are found on the back end of the fish with rather few ahead of the dorsal fin. Habitat: While westslope cutthroat trout was once the most widely distributed cutthroat in North America, its home in Oregon has always been limited to the John Day Basin. During the cooler months of summer you can find them in places like Strawberry Creek and upper Canyon Creek. As
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
