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Much variability in coloration exists in the common garter snake but the best identifying characteristic is a stripe down the middle of the snake's back. While the common garter snake frequents wet meadows and forest edges, it occurs in a variety of habitats far from water, including open valleys and moist coniferous forest. Smaller snakes eat earthworms, but adults feed on a variety of vertebrate prey, including frogs, toads, salamanders, birds, fish, reptiles, and small mammals. Invertebrates, including slugs and leeches, are also eaten. Photo by Dave Budeau, ODFW

Features: Herring are silver with large scales. They are an important food source for larger fishes, sea birds and marine mammals. Habitat: Herring are frequently offshore in large schools but can be caught inshore in harbors and large estuaries during spawning. Technique: Herring are a schooling fish, and anglers can target them from docks, piers or boats in the bays. The most popular rig is a multiple-hook herring jig. Header photo by Steve, Flickr

The Buff-breasted sandpiper resembles a plover with a high-stepping, pigeon-like gait. One of the few Oregon shorebirds that frequents dry, sparsely vegetated coastal grasslands. Fall migrants consist of juveniles. It has scaly, buffy-brown underparts, yellow legs, a small head, and a short black bill. Beady black eyes stand out on a plain, pale face. It bobs its head while moving. Gleaming white underwings are displayed in a graceful flight pattern. It is unique among North American shorebirds in having a lek mating system. This is a rare but regular fall migrant on the Oregon coast where it has been recorded…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Popularly called "Gooneybird" for its elaborate mating antics and clumsy takeoffs and landings and breeding islands, this is a large, spectacular seabird. Though small for an albatross, it glides on wind currents just above the ocean waves on long narrow wings which span approximately six-and-a-half feet. The dark gray wings, back and tail contrast with a white body and upper tail coverts. Singles or small groups are reported occasionally on offshore Oregon birding trips, primarily in winter. Hear the call of the Laysan albatross Photo by ©Greg Gilson

Noted for its familiar call, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, the Black-capped chickadee is widely heralded as one of Oregon's friendliest and cheeriest residents. Even in the midst of winter, this bird "fairly overflows with good spirits." The Black-capped chickadee is resident at low to moderate elevations in western Oregon from the Willamette Valley and coastal counties to Douglas County and in most of eastern Oregon with the exception of the southeastern corner of the state. Hear the song of the Black-capped chickadee Photo by Dave Budeau, ODFW

This is a bird of riparian thickets, farmlands, and towns. Since 1980, it has been observed almost annually in Harney County, usually in numbers less than five. A pair successfully fledged young near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in 1994. Most Harney County records occur from early April to late October. Away from Harney county individuals have also been seen in the various eastern and southeastern counties of Oregon. Hear the song of the Great-tailed grackle Photo by Kathy Munsel, ODFW

Although they occur in a wide variety of habitat types, from deserts and chaparral to open forests across Oregon, Western rattlesnakes usually occur near rocks, cliffs, or downed logs. They overwinter in dens typically located on south-facing rocky hillsides exposed to sunshine. Western rattlesnakes feed mainly on small mammals, including mice, gophers, squirrels and rabbits, but will also take birds lizards, and amphibians. The Western rattlesnake is an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species in the Willamette Valley. Photo by Simon Wray, ODFW

Few seabirds have been labeled "stunning;" but with their graceful flight, boldly patterned upperparts, and brilliant white underparts, these birds truly are one of the most beautiful in Oregon waters. They have a black cap, wings angled forward, long body and tail, and a unique dark 'M' pattern against light gray back and wings. Often seen in small groups mixed among other more abundant shearwaters, they sometimes form pure flocks all flying in gracefully synchronized flight. While regular in Oregon in late fall, they are still uncommon enough to excite observers when encountered at sea. Photo by Tony Morris, Flickr

Often mistaken for a duck, the American coot is actually a member of the rail family. It is a smallish, slate-gray water bird with a white bill. At home swimming in ponds and marshes, it seems to propel itself through the water by rhythmically extending its neck. During the nesting season it can be seen enthroned on a sizable nesting platform built from marsh vegetation. It has the largest Oregon breeding population of any waterfowl. Rafts of thousands of coots stage for migration in spring and fall on lakes throughout Oregon. Hear the call of the American coot Photo by…