Animals

2025-11-24

Crows and their kin are very interesting birds, members of what may be the most intelligent avian family — the Corvidae. The crow’s cousins include magpies, blue jays, jackdaws, rooks, nutcrackers and ravens. Many people use the terms crow and raven interchangeably but the two birds are actually quite different. Ravens are larger than crows (on average about the size of a hawk), have a heavier bill, and a wedge-shaped tail. Crows are approximately the size of a pigeon with a fan-shaped tail.

2025-11-24

The American robin is the largest thrush in North America. Males are not only more vocal than females, but also slightly larger and more brightly coloured. Adult American robins have grey-brown backs, characteristic reddish breasts, white bellies, white chins, yellow bills and throats with dark streaks. Juveniles have dark speckles on their backs and on their cinnamon-coloured breasts.

2025-11-24

The American toad is a medium sized, squat toad which averages 5-9 cm in length. Its colour can change depending on humidity, temperature, and stress level, though it is typically brown, reddish or olive skinned with dark blotches containing one or two spots or "warts". The belly tends to be white or yellow with dark spots.

2025-11-24

Smaller than a robin, the male oriole displays a brilliant orange breast, shoulder patch and rump contrasted with a black head, back, wings and tail. The female resembles the male, but is paler in colour, displaying a dull orange breast with a dark brown olive colour on its head and back. The male has a beautiful flute-like song, which he performs throughout the summer. The female’s song, in comparison, is shorter and simpler. While songs vary slightly from one bird to the next, they always have the recognizable “hew-li” sound.

2025-11-24

The black bear Ursus americanus is one of the most familiar wild animals in North America today. The black bear is a bulky and thickset mammal. Approximately 150 cm long and with a height at the shoulder that varies from 100 to 120 cm, an adult black bear has a moderate-sized head with a rather straight facial profile and a tapered nose with long nostrils. The ears are rounded and the eyes small. The tail is very short and inconspicuous. A black bear has feet that are well furred on which it can walk. Each foot has five curved claws, which the bear cannot sheathe, or hide. These are very strong and are used for digging and tearing out roots, stumps, and old logs when searching for food.

2025-11-24

Black-capped Chickadees are small birds that measure 12 to 15 centimetres long. They have grey backs, a black cap that covers their eyes, white cheeks and a black triangular bib on the throat. Their stomachs are white with buff along the sides and their wings and tail are dark grey with white edging.

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The blackness of its body and wings is embellished with two rows of yellow spots. The female’s yellow spots, while not as bold as the male’s, are adorned with a more distinctive blue band between the pale bands of yellow. In contrast, the male is garnished with more yellow tones than blue. Both sexes have two prominent orange eyespots on their hind wings close to their tails.

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The Blanding’s Turtle has a highly domed, upper shell with light-coloured flecks. The chin and neck are bright yellow.

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Canada has three species of bluebirds. They are in the Thrush family, the same family as the American Robin. Bluebirds are a little smaller than our robins, averaging about 7 inches in length and 13-14 inches in width. All bluebirds have blue heads, wings, backs and tails, which gives them their name. All species also have a black bill, legs and eyes. The differences between species come mainly from the colouring of the throat, breast and belly. The male Mountain Bluebird is mainly blue with a pale blue breast and white belly. The male Western Bluebird is a darker blue with orange-red on the upper and side portions of its chest and dull blue-white on the lower middle portion. The male Eastern Bluebird is similar to the Western Bluebird, but the orange also covers its throat and the front sides of its neck. Another distinction is that its white belly is brighter. The females and juveniles of these species have similar colouring to the adult males but a much paler version.

2025-11-24

The Blue-spotted Salamander is a small, cold-blooded, nocturnal animal. A large adult will only be about 12 cm long, 40% of that is tail and its body is only about 1 cm wide. It is shiny-black with dusty blue spots mainly on the sides and belly.

2025-11-24

Adult wingspan is 53–90mm. Adults (butterflies) are yellow with thick black bands coming down from the top of the forewing and some black lines/veins across the hind wings. There are thick black bands along the edge of both the forewing and hind wing, with yellow spots along the forewing and yellow and orange spots on the jagged hind wing. There is a softer band of blue patches on the hind wing. Near the bottom of the hind wing is an extension that, when you look at both wings together, resemble the long, forked tails of some swallows. <p> Young (larvae/caterpillars), when immature, are brown and white and resemble bird droppings. Older caterpillars are large and green. Their body is fatter just behind the head and has two yellowish spots that look like eyes and a yellow band farther back, giving the impression of a much larger head, which is thought to deter predators. </p>

2025-11-24

Cedar Waxwings are creamy yellow below, have light brown colouring on their heads and upper backs, grey on their lower backs and wings and a black mask across the top of their bills that extends around their eyes. They also have feathers on their heads that form a crest. They have a bright yellow band at the end of their tails. Sometimes you can see a thin red strip on the edge of their secondary wing feathers.

2025-11-24

Approximately 8–11 mm long. All-over colour is dark blue, green-blue or purple. The elytra (wings) have three crossbands that can be yellow, orange or red. All checkered beetles (family <em>Cleridae</em>) have a wide head and a long, narrow body with a short thorax and a long abdomen. They have long hairs along their bodies and legs, which pollen can stick onto.

2025-11-24

Chipmunks are easily recognized by the light and dark stripes on the back and head. They can be confused with some of the striped ground squirrels, but chipmunks are smaller, and have facial markings and five dark stripes on their backs, including a distinct, central line that extends forward onto the head. Ground squirrels do not have markings on the head.

2025-11-24

Garter snakes are typically 60 centimetres long. While their colouring varies greatly, they are generally recognized by a dark body with three light-coloured stripes down their back and sides (usually shades of yellow, red or orange). Some have speckled markings along the lighter coloured stripes and some small populations are all dark with no stripes.

2025-11-24

At only 11-14 cm, the common redpoll is a small bird. A member of the finch family, this streaked bird can be difficult to distinguish from pine siskins. Redpolls are named for their red forehead but this is not always obvious, so look instead for the black patch on their chin to recognize them. To identify the sex of common redpolls look for the slight tinge of rose on the breasts of the males.

2025-11-24

Dark-eyed juncos vary geographically in terms of their colouration. Depending on the region, the backs and sides of dark-eyed juncos can vary from dark grey to reddish-brown. In all regions, however, adults can typically be identified by their dark grey to black coloured head and breast (known as their hood), white outer tail feathers and white undersides. Females are typically smaller than males and are often lighter in colour. Juveniles differ markedly from adults with their streaked appearance and brownish plumage. Dark-eyed juncos can be identified by their sounds as well. Their most familiar call is a musical trill that’s performed on the same pitch. Depending on predation, dark-eyed juncos typically live anywhere from three to 11 years in the wild. Their common predators are hawks, owls, cats, squirrels, chipmunks and weasels.

2025-11-24

Dragonflies and Damselflies: Insects from a different time

2025-11-24

Eastern grey squirrels commonly occur in two colour phases, grey and black, which leads people to think—mistakenly—that there are two different species. The most notable physical feature of the eastern grey squirrel is its large bushy tail. The tail has many important functions. It acts as a rudder when the animal jumps from high places, as a warm covering during the winter, as a signal to other eastern grey squirrels indicating an individual’s mood.

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Ermines have features common to the weasel family like a long body, short legs, a long neck and a triangular-shaped head. They are a small weasel; males average 27 cm and females measure up at 24 cm with their tail adding another 7.5 cm to their length. Males are larger than females and weigh on average 80 g while females weigh an average of 54 g. Ermines change the colour of their coats seasonally. In the summer, their backs are brown, their undersides are white and their tails sport a black tip. In the winter, they are completely white except for their black tipped tail.

2025-11-24

Despite their name, these insects are not flies. They’re actually beetles. There are 29 species believed to be native to Canada, but there is a lot about this group of insects that is still being discovered, including the various species. Fireflies have elongated bodies and their heads have a “pronotum”, which is a cover that protects the top of their heads although, when viewed from the side, you can see their heads. Their upper pair of wings are hard and also serve as protection, similar to ladybugs, aka ladybeetles, which are in the same Coleoptera family. Their larval, or immature, form resembles a grub or millipede. Some live on land (terrestrial), some live in water (aquatic) and others are semi-aquatic.

2025-11-24

The Goldenrod Spider — Your Friendly Backyard Spider

2025-11-24

All Gray Catbirds, regardless of their age or gender, are mainly grey with black colouring on the tops of their heads and orange-brown underneath the base of their tail. Their calls are a raspy cat-like sound while their songs are highly variable and often melodic.

2025-11-24

The Great Horned Owl is one of Canada’s commonest large birds of prey. The most notable physical attributes are its large size and prominent ear tufts or "horns." A predator that hunts at night, this owl has enormous yellow eyes set in a broad face, a curved beak and claws, and long fluffy feathers. Its coloration tends mainly toward brown or grey-brown, with conspicuous barring. This bird’s legendary hooting sounds like a soft yet vibrant whoo-hoo-ho-o-o.

2025-11-24

The groundhog is normally brown in colour but can be completely black or completely white. It is one of Canada’s largest true hibernators. The groundhog is the major hole-digging mammal over much of eastern North America, and in some places in the west, providing all sorts of animals with shelter. The groundhog it spends much of its time eating and sunning when not hibernating or caring for young.

2025-11-24

This very large family has great variation in looks. The most commonly seen ones, however, tend to be approximately 8–12 mm long with yellow and/or orange and black on the abdomen. All members of the Syrphidae family have a distinctive squiggle or false vein (spurious vein) running through the middle of the wing.

2025-11-24

Adult wingspan is approximately 4–5.5 cm. The adult (moth’s) head and upper back area (thorax) is olive to tan, and the chest area (thorax) is cream or white. Their lower back and belly (abdomen) are dark reddish-brown or black (though the lower portion of the lower back can be lighter in colour). Their wings are clear with a reddish-brown border and veins. Young (larvae/caterpillars) are bright green with a line of white dots that end in a fleshy, pointy extension resembling a tail. There are also small reddish spots along its side.

2025-11-24

The little brown bat is the most common and widespread of Canada's nineteen species of bats. They are found across Canada to the northern edge of the boreal forest. Little brown bats weigh only seven to fourteen grams and have a wingspan of 22-27 centimetres. This species of bat is the one most closely associated with humans, as it is the most likely to take up residence in buildings.

2025-11-24

Adult wingspan is approximately 9–10 cm. Adult (butterfly) wings are orange with black veins. The hind and forewings have a double row of white spots within a thick black border. There are pale orange and white spots near the tip of the forewing (apex). The underside is similar, though the hind wing is a paler orange. Its black body also had white spots. Newly hatched caterpillars (larvae) are pale green with a dark head. Mature caterpillars have black, white and yellow bands. They have a pair of black filaments (thin fleshy parts that resemble antennae) at the head and tail. The longer pair is at the head.

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Moose (Alces alces) have long, slim legs that end in cloven, or divided, hooves often more than 18 cm long. The body is deep and massively muscled at the shoulders, giving the animal a humped appearance. It is slab-sided and low-rumped, with rather slender hindquarters and a stubby, well-haired tail. The head is heavy and compact, and the nose extends in an arch terminating in a long, flexible upper lip. The ears resemble a mule’s but are not quite as long. Most moose have a pendant of fur-covered skin, about 30 cm long, called a bell, hanging from the throat. A bull moose in full spread of antlers is the most imposing beast in North America. It stands taller at the shoulder than the largest saddle horse. Big bulls weigh up to 600 kg in most of Canada. The moose is the largest member of the deer family.

2025-11-24

Mosquitoes are thin, long-legged, two-winged insects and are typically six to 12 millimetres in length. Both males and females have antennae and an elongated "beak" or proboscis three to four times longer than its head.

2025-11-24

Adults - The upper wings of the Mourning Cloak Butterfly are red-brown with a thick yellow border along the edge. On the inside edge of this border are bright blue elongated spots. The underside of their wings are dark with thin irregular lines. The border is duller than the upper side and the blue spots are more V shaped. Their wingspan can range from approximately five to ten centimeters. The more north they are found the smaller they tend to be. Caterpillars – The caterpillar is black with tiny white dots and black-branched spines. It has a row of red marks on its back between the bases of these spines.

2025-11-24

The northern cardinal is a medium-sized songbird, with males slightly larger than females. Males are bright red with a black mask around their red bill and a prominent crest on the top of their head. Females are olive brown with red on their wings, tail, and crest, and a red bill. Juveniles are similar in colour to females but have a black bill and a shorter crest. Colouring plays an important role in the lives of male northern cardinals. Males that are brighter red are more successful than their paler counterparts. They have greater reproductive success, get ranges with better food supplies, and are able to feed more frequently.

2025-11-24

Northern flying squirrels are about 30 cm in length and have broad flattened tails. The fur on their back is a cinnamon brown and they have white bellies. The large eyes of flying squirrels facilitate effective night vision. This is necessary because, unlike their more commonly seen cousins, these squirrels hide away during the day and become active about an hour after sunset.

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The Painted Turtle has a smooth dark shell with red markings along the outside edge. Its dark skin is adorned with yellow and red strips, most prominently along the head and neck.

2025-11-24

Approximately 17–22 mm. Paper wasps are fairly large. They have long bodies with a broad thorax and abdomen and a tiny, constricted waist. When at rest, their wings fold lengthwise, parallel to the body. The head and thorax are black to brown in colour, while the abdomen is dark with yellow stripes, sometimes with reddish-brown to yellow colouration between the stripes.

2025-11-24

At an average 18" in length, the pileated is the largest woodpecker in Canada. These colossal birds, with their striking red crest and resemblance to prehistoric pterodactyls in flight, are thought to be the inspiration for the once popular cartoon Woody the Woodpecker. As Woody had his loud laugh, pileated woodpeckers also make noise to match their size. Their drumming, reminiscent of construction machinery, can be heard up to a kilometre away. It is fairly easy to recognize a pileated woodpecker by its large size and the red crest on its head. The body is predominantly black, with thick black and white stripes reaching from the bill to the wing and chest area. The red 'moustache' along the cheek distinguishes males from females.

2025-11-24

Porcupines have large, chunky bodies and short legs. This results in their slow, waddling manner. With an average weight of 5.5 kg for males and 4.5 kg for females and a total length ranging from 68 to 100 cm, porcupines are Canada's second largest rodents next to beavers. Porcupine's quills are actually modified hairs. They are longest on the back and tail, reaching lengths of 12.5 cm. Quills on the face are much shorter, approximately 1.2 cm long. Despite their prickly appearance, porcupines have soft undercoats with long guard hairs covering the quills. Their undersides, legs, and muzzles have no quills.

2025-11-24

The Purple Martin, Progne subis, is a conspicuous bird in many populated areas of North America during spring and summer. Averaging 17 to 20 cm in length and a wing span of 9-41 cm, it is Canada’s largest swallow. The life span of this swallow is one to five years. The Purple Martin resembles other swallows in having a slender body, long wings, and a wide beak. Males show a shiny blue-black coloration on sunny days. Females are lighter in colour, with a pale grey throat and belly.

2025-11-24

The common raccoon (Procyon lotor) is probably best known for its mischievous-looking black face mask. Raccoons are usually a grizzled grey in colour with a tail marked by five to 10 alternating black and brown rings. Body coloration can vary from albino, (white) to melanistic (black) or brown. An annual moult, or shedding, of the fur begins in the spring and lasts about three months. A raccoon is about 80 centimetres in length and weighs between 6-8 kilograms.

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Red-breasted Nuthatches are small birds reaching about 4.5 inches in length with a thin black bill and short tail. They have a black and white striped head, white throat, grey back and rust-coloured belly.

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The red fox is a small, dog-like mammal, with a sharp pointed face and ears, an agile and lightly built body, a coat of lustrous long fur, and a large bushy tail. Male foxes are slightly larger than females. Sizes vary somewhat between individuals and geographic locations

2025-11-24

The red-winged blackbird is a medium-sized song bird, ranging in size from 17 to 23 centimetres, with a very distinct call. Males are a sleek black colour with bright red patches on the tops of their wings. These red patches are called epaulettes and are sometimes less visible while the bird is perched, when it only shows the slight yellow band found below the red epaulettes. Young males are often a dark brown colour and appear as if they are molted before they mature; however, they still retain the red patch on the shoulder. Females are less distinctive with their brown- and white-striped backs and white- and brown-striped abdomens. Their colouring often causes them to be mistaken for other species of blackbird or sometimes for sparrows.

2025-11-24

With most birds, males are more brightly coloured, and this holds true with the rose-breasted grosbeak. The males are the most attractive with black backs and heads, white rumps and bellies and rose triangular patches on their breasts. The females, however, are not as conspicuous. Females have brown streaking on both their pale under parts and darker backs. Rose-breasted grosbeaks are said to have one of the prettiest calls. It is comparable to that of the American robin but with a more melodic sound.

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Approximately 9–10 cm long. Adult males are metallic green on the upperparts, iridescent ruby red on the throat, white on the underparts and green along the sides. Adult females look similar to males but with a white throat, greyish belly and buff along the sides of the belly, sometimes with a little red on the throat. Immature males look similar to females but with red streaks down the throat.

2025-11-24

Approximately 9.5 cm long. Adult male upperparts are mainly reddish-brown with dull green on the top of their head and a white patch behind the eyes. Their throat is iridescent orange-red and has white at the top of their breast and parts of the belly; the rest of its underparts are reddish-brown. Adult females are similar to males but paler and greener; their throat is white with dark and/or iridescent spots of orange-red. Immature birds resemble the females, but immature males start to show reddish-brown upperparts before their throat colours develop.

2025-11-24

Adult wingspan approximately 2–3 cm. Adults (butterflies) have a light blue upperside with a thin, light grey border and a dark grey border within that. The dark grey border in the female is wider and fades into a pale blue to varying degrees. Their underside is grey with one row of black white-rimmed spots on both the forewing and hind wing.

2025-11-24

The snowshoe hare one of our commonest forest mammals, is found only in North America. Well-adapted to its environment, the snowshoe hare travels on large, generously furred hind feet, which allow it to move easily over the snow. The snowshoe hare’s ears are smaller than most hares’. The ears contain many veins, which help to regulate body temperature. A seasonal variation in fur colour is another remarkable adaptation: from grey-brown in summer, the fur becomes almost pure white in midwinter.

2025-11-24

The striped skunk, a member of the weasel family, is about the size of a cat, but has a stout body, small head, short legs, bushy tail and thick, black, glossy fur. The thin white stripe down the centre of the face forks at the shoulders and continues as a white stripe along each side of the back. Tail is mostly black, but stripes may extend down it, usually to a tuft of white at the tip. The skunk is one of the most useful small mammals inhabiting Canada’s mixed farmlands, grasslands and forests because it helps control pests such as mice, grubs and larvae. On average a skunk weighs 3.25 kilograms and is approximately 57.5 - 80 centimetres in length. In the wild a skunk is estimated to live 3 years but in captivity they can live up to 15 years.

2025-11-24

Northern Flickers are a mid-sized woodpecker reaching approximately 32 centimetres. There are two types, the more widely spread Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker and the Red-shafted found mainly in southern British Columbia. Both have a spotted breast, black breast band below the throat, black barring on their backs (lines that run across their backs from wing to wing) and white patch on their rump, visible in flight. The Yellow-shafted males have a red patch at the back of their heads, a black stripe down the side of their brown face and brilliant yellow under their wings and tail. Red-shafted males, however, lack the red patch on the back of their heads, have a red stripe down the side of their grey face and a bright orange-red colour under their wings. They also have a bit of white around the black breast patch. Females of both sub species appear the same except for the lack of the red or black stripe down the side of their face. In areas where both sub species are found close they sometime hybridize making identification tricky.

2025-11-24

The most distinctive feature of this relatively large sparrow, as reflected in its name, is the striped crown. Its grey head is crowned with conspicuous black and white stripes. The white-crowned sparrow lacks the yellow spot near each eye and the white throat of the white-throated sparrow, a close relative. This bird is approximately 17 - 19 cm in size. Loud scuffling in the bushes often signals the presence of this spirited bird. Using both of its rather large feet, it vigorously scratches among the leaf litter in search of food.