Oregon Habitats, Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles

Oregon has a rich variety of natural habitats including beaches, salt marshes, coastal temperate rainforests, grasslands, wetlands, coniferous and deciduous forests and even volcanoes.

Forests
Oregon has many distinct kinds of forests. There are bottomland forests that are very wet with trees that can tolerate "wet feet" for part of the year. This is a mixed forest common to floodplains with alder, ash, willow, dogwood and others.

Riparian habitats are also wet habitats usually surrounding or along lakes and rivers.

Upland forests are higher and drier with Douglas fir and big leaf maple forming a thick canopy. These are found on the north coast of Oregon and provide vital habitat for wildlife.

Foggy coastal conditions also produce giant conifer forests of Sitka spruce and dense evergreen shrubs and the famous Coast Redwood forests found south near the California border.

North Pacific lowland hardwood-mixed conifer forests of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, western red cedar and bigleaf maple are found throughout western Oregon as well as in the Coast Range and lower Cascades foothills.

Higher up in the mountains the forests turn to high elevation conifers: subalpine fir, Engelmann spruce, mountain hemlock and whitebark pine. In the east Cascades, the most common conifer is lodgepole pine. Lower in the foothills are ponderosa pine forests and in some places western juniper woodlands. The cliff habitats of eastern Oregon have mountain mahogany scrublands. The foothills and mountains have conifer forests with stands of quaking aspen. There are also oak woodlands with chinquapin and black, canyon live and tan oaks.

Grasslands
Oregon has a swath of coastal prairie with ferns, grasses, sedges and wildflowers that act as coastal erosion protection. Prairies also once spread across the Willamette Valley kept open with annual burning by the native Kalapuya natives. The arrival of settlers in the mid-1800s changed the Valley which was over time developed and allowed to grow into forest and scrublands.

Wetlands and Coastal Habitats
Wetlands are very important natural communities providing valuable wildlife habitat. They can stabilize shorelines and protect the land from storm surges and flooding. They act as filters for pollutants that run off the land from farms, towns and cities.

Oregon's salt marshes act as a boundary between saltwater wetland habitats and dry land. They are rich with plant and animal life that can tolerate salt and the rising and falling tides. The matted roots of salt marsh plants help to protect the coast from erosion and storm surges while polluted runoff from land is filtered before reaching the ocean.

When freshwater rivers and streams reach the ocean and mix with the seawater they form an estuary. Estuaries are often protected from the open ocean by mudflats, reefs and barrier islands and are home to plants and animals adapted to tolerate both salt and freshwater like crabs, shrimp, salmon and ospreys.

Surrounding the estuary are the mudflats where low wave action results in a build up of sediments. The mudflats protect the coastline from erosion and flooding and are important resting areas for migrating birds and wintering waterfowl.

National Wildlife Refuges (six) span 320-miles of Oregon's rugged coastline with a variety of coastal habitats.

Three of the refuges are marine –  the Oregon Islands, Cape Meares and Three Arch Rocks. They protect coastal rocks, reefs, islands and several headland areas and contain some of the most important seabird nesting colonies in the U.S. Over a million seabirds, including common murres, tufted puffins, cormorants, and storm-petrels nest here. These refuges also provide coastal rocks for harbor seals, Steller and California sea lions to breed and rest.

Three of the refuges are estuarine – Nestucca Bay, Siletz Bay, and Bandon Marsh. They include saltmarsh, brackish marsh, riparian wetlands and wooded uplands and are habitat for fish and waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, small mammals, amphibians and anadromous fish.

Inland, Oregon has freshwater marshes, bogs, fens, wet prairies and spruce swamps. Like most states, oregon has lost over half of its native wetlands from development that started when the first settlers arrived in the 1800s. Wetlands are home to a wide variety of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects. Some endangered wetland animals include: coho salmon, spotted frogs, western pond turtle, upland sandpiper and sandhill cranes.

To learn more about Oregon's Natural Communities go to: LINK

Land Mammals
antelope (pronghorn)
badger
bat (big brown)
bat (Brazilian free-tailed)
bat (California)
bat (fringed)
bat (hoary)
bat (little brown)
bat (long-legged)
bat (silver-haired)
bat (spotted)
bat (Townsend's long-eared)
bat (western pipistrelle)
bat (western small-footed)
bat (Yuma)
bear (black)
beaver (American)
beaver (mountain)
bison
bobcat
chipmunk (Allen's)
chipmunk (least)
chipmunk (Siskiyou)
chipmunk (yellow-pine)
coyote
deer (mule)
deer (white-tailed)
elk
fisher
fox (kit)
fox (gray)
fox (red)
ground squirrel (Belding's)
ground squirrel (California)
ground squirrel (Columbian)
ground squirrel (golden-mantled)
ground squirrel (Merriam's)
ground squirrel (Piute)
ground squirrel (Washington)
ground squirrel (Wyoming)
hare (snowshoe)
kangaroo mouse (dark)
kangaroo rat (California)
kangaroo rat (Ord's)
jackrabbit (black-tailed)
jackrabbit (white-tailed)
lynx (Canadian)
marmot (yellow-bellied)
marten (American)
mink
mole (broad-footed)
mole (coast)
mole (shrew)
mole (Townsend's)
mountain goat
mouse (canyon)
mouse (deer)
mouse (northern grasshopper)
mouse (Pacific jumping)
mouse (pinyon)
mouse (western harvest)
mouse (western jumping)
muskrat
nutria
opossum (Virginia)
otter (river)
otter (sea)
pika (American)
pocket gopher (Botta's)
pocket gopher (Camas)
pocket gopher (northern)
pocket gopher (Townsend's)
pocket gopher (western)
pocket mouse (Great Basin)
pocket mouse (little)

porcupine
rabbit (brush)
rabbit (eastern cottontail)
rabbit (mountain cottontail)
rabbit (pygmy)
raccoon
rat (black)
rat (Norway)
ringtail
sheep (bighorn)
shrew (Baird's)
shrew (fog)
shrew (marsh)
shrew (Merriam's)
shrew (Pacific)
shrew (Preble's)
shrew (Trowbridge's)
shrew (vagrant)
shrew (water)

skunk (striped)
skunk (western spotted)
squirrel (Douglas's)
squirrel (eastern gray)
squirrel (fox)
squirrel (northern flying)
squirrel (red)
squirrel (western gray)
squirrel (white-tailed antelope)
vole (California)
vole (creeping)
vole (gray-tailed)
vole (heather)
vole (long-tailed)
vole (Montane)
vole (red-tree)
vole (white-footed)
vole (water)
vole (western red-backed)
weasel (long-tailed)
weasel (short-tailed) or ermine
wolf (gray)
wolverine
woodrat (desert)
woodrat (dusky-footed)
woodrat (dusky-tailed)

Ocean Mammals
dolphin (northern right whale)
dolphin (Pacific striped)
dolphin (Risso's)
porpoise (Dall)
porpoise (harbor)
porpoise (rough-toothed)
seal (harbor)
seal (northern elephant)
sea lion (California)
sea lion (northern)
whale (Baird's beaked)
whale (blue)
whale (Cuvier's beaked)
whale (false killer)
whale (fin)
whale (gray)
whale (humpback)
whale (killer)
whale (minke)
whale (pilot)
whale (pygmy sperm)
whale (sei)
whale (sperm)
whale (Stejneger's beaked)

For more information about Oregon's mammals (including Latin names) click on individual animal links or for another resource: LINK

Amphibians
bullfrog (American)
Ensatina
frog (Cascades)
frog (Columbia spotted)
frog (foothill yellow-legged)
frog (northern leopard)
frog (red-legged)
frog (spotted)
frog (tailed)
salamander (black)
salamander (Cascade torrent)
salamander (clouded)
salamander (Columbia Torrent)
salamander (Cope's giant)
salamander (Del Norte)
salamander (Dunn's)
salamander (larch mountain)
salamander (long-toed)
salamander (northwestern)
salamander (Oregon slender)
salamander (Pacific giant)
salamander (rough-skinned)
salamander (Siskiyou Mountains)
salamander (southern torrent)
salamander (tiger)
salamander (western red-backed)
treefrog (Pacific)
toad (western)
toad (Woodhouse's)

Reptiles

lizard (desert horned)
lizard (long-nosed leopard)
lizard (Mojave black-collard)
lizard (northern alligator)
lizard (pygmy horned)
lizard (sagebrush)
lizard (side-blotched)
lizard (southern alligator)
lizard (western fence)
rattlesnake (western)
skink (western)
snake (California mountain kingsnake)
snake (common garter)
snake (common kingsnake)
snake (night)
snake (northwestern garter)
snake (Pacific gopher)
snake (racer)
snake (ringneck)
snake (rubber boa)
snake (Santa Cruz garter)
snake (sharptail)
snake (western groundsnake)
snake (western terrestrial garter)
turtle (painted)
turtle (western pond)
whiptail (plateau striped)
whiptail (striped)
whiptail (western)

For more information about Oregon's amphibians and reptiles (including Latin names) click on individual animal links or for another resource: LINK

albatross (black-footed)
albatross (Laysan)
albatross (short-tailed)
albatross (shy)
albatross (wandering)
auklet (Cassin's)
auklet (parakeet)
auklet (rhinoceros)
avocet (American)
bittern (American)
bittern (least)
blackbird (Brewer's)
blackbird (red-winged)
blackbird (rusty)
blackbird (yellow-headed)
blackbird (tricolored)
bluebird (mountain)
bluebird (western)
bobolink
bobwhite (northern)
booby (blue-footed)
booby (brown)
booby (masked)
brambling
bunting (indigo)
bunting (lark)
bunting (lazuli)
bunting (McKay's)
bunting (painted)
bunting (rustic)
bunting (snow)
bushtit
caracara (crested)
catbird (gray)
chickadee (black-capped)
chickadee (chestnut-backed)
chickadee (mountain)
coot (American)
cormorant (Brandt's)
cormorant (double-crested)
cormorant (pelagic)
cowbird (brown-headed)
crane (sandhill)
creeper (brown)
crossbill (red)
crossbill (white-winged)
crow (American)
cuckoo (yellow-billed)
curlew (bristle-thighed)
curlew (long-billed)
dickcissel
dipper (American)
dove (common ground-)
dove (Eurasian collared)
dove (mourning)
dove (white-winged)
dowitcher (long-billed)
dowitcher (short-billed)
duck (American black)
duck (American wigeon)
duck (black-bellied whistling)
duck (black scoter)
duck (barrow's goldeneye)
duck (blue-winged teal)
duck (bufflehead)
duck (canvasback)
duck (cinnamon teal)
duck (common goldeneye)
duck (king eider)
duck (Eurasian wigeon)
duck (falcated)
duck (fulvous whistling)
duck (gadwall)
duck (garganey)
duck (green-winged teal)
duck (greater scaup)
duck (harlequin)
duck (lesser scaup)
duck (northern pintail)
duck (northern shoveler)
duck (redhead)
duck (ring-necked)
duck (ruddy)
duck (smew)
duck (Stellar's eider)
duck (surf scoter)
duck (white-winged scoter)
duck (wood)
dunlin
eagle (bald)
eagle (golden)
egret (cattle)
egret (great)
egret (snowy)
falcon (peregrine)
falcon (prairie)
finch (black rosy)
finch (Cassin's)
finch (house)
finch (gray-crowned rosy)
finch (purple)
flicker (gilded)
flicker (northern)
flycatcher (alder)
flycatcher (ash-throated)
flycatcher (Cordilleran)
flycatcher (dusky)
flycatcher (dusky-capped)
flycatcher (gray)
flycatcher (Hammond's)
flycatcher (least)
flycatcher (Pacific-slope)
flycatcher (scissor-tailed)
flycatcher (willow)
frigatebird (magnificent)
fulmar (northern)
gnatcatcher (blue-gray)
godwit (bar-tailed)
godwit (Hudsonian)
godwit (marbled)
goldfinch (American)
goldfinch (Lawrence's)
goldfinch (lesser)
goose (Brant)
goose (Cackling)
goose (Canada)
goose (Emperor)
goose (great white-fronted)
goose (Ross's)
goose (snow)
grackle (common)
grackle (great-tailed)
grèbe (Clarke's)
grèbe (eared)
grèbe (horned)
grèbe (pied-billed)
grèbe (red-necked)
grèbe (western)
grosbeak (black-headed)
grosbeak (blue)
grosbeak (evening)
grosbeak (pine)
grosbeak (rose-breasted)
grouse (dusky)
grouse (greater sage)
grouse (ruffed)
grouse (sharp-tailed)
grouse (sooty)
grouse (spruce)
guillemot (pigeon)
gull (Bonaparte’s)
gull (black-headed)
gull (California)
gull (Franklin's)
gull (glaucous)
gull (glaucous-winged)
gull (Heermann's)
gull (herring)
gull (Franklin's)
gull (Iceland)
gull (laughing)
gull (little)
gull (mew)
gull (ring-billed)
gull (Ross's)
gull (Sabine's)
gull (slaty-backed)
gull (Thayer's)
gull (western)
gyrfalcon
harrier (northern)
hawk (broad-winged)
hawk (Cooper's)
hawk (ferruginous)
hawk (red-shouldered)
hawk (red-tailed)
hawk (rough-legged)
hawk (sharp-shinned)
hawk (Swainson's)
heron (great blue)
heron (green)
heron (little blue)
heron (tri-colored)
heron (black-crowned night)
hummingbird (Allen's)
hummingbird (Anna's)
hummingbird (black-chinned)
hummingbird (broad-billed)
hummingbird (broad-tailed)
hummingbird (calliope)
hummingbird (Costa's)
hummingbird (ruby-throated)
hummingbird (rufous)
ibis (glossy)
ibis (white)
ibis (white-faced)
jaeger (long-tailed)
jaeger (parasitic)
jaeger (pomarine)
jay (blue)
jay (Clark's nutcracker)
jay (pinyon)
jay (Stellar's)
jay (western scrub)
junco (dark-eyed)
kestrel (American)
kingbird (Cassin's)
kingbird (eastern)
kingbird (western)
kingfisher (belted)
kinglet (golden-crowned)
kinglet (ruby-crowned)
kite (white-tailed)
Kittiwake  (black-legged)
Kittiwake  (red-legged)
lark (horned)
longspur (chestnut-collared)
longspur (Lapland)
longspur (McCown's)
longspur (Smith's)
loon (Arctic)
loon (common)
loon (Pacific)
loon (red-throated)
loon (yellow-billed)
magpie (black-billed)
martin (purple)
merlin
merganser (common)
merganser (hooded)
merganser (red-breasted)
mockingbird (northern)
moorhen (common)
murre (common)
murre (thick-billed)
murrelet (ancient)
murrelet (long-billed)
murrelet (marbled)
murrelet ((Xantus's)
nighthawk (common)
nighthawk (lesser)
nuthatch (pygmy)
nuthatch (red-breasted)
nuthatch (white-breasted)
oriole (Baltimore)
oriole (Bullock's)
oriole (hooded)
oriole (orchard)
oriole (Scott's)
oriole (streak-backed)
osprey
ovenbird
owl (barn)
owl (barred)
owl (boreal)
owl (flammulated)
owl (great gray)
owl (great horned)
owl (long-eared)
owl (northern hawk)
owl (northern pygmy)
owl (northern saw-whet)
owl (short-eared)
owl (snowy)
owl (spotted)
owl (western screech)
oystercatcher (black)
partridge (chuckar)
partridge (gray)
parula (northern)
petrel (Cook's)
petrel (Juan Fernandez)
petrel (mottled)
petrel (Murphy's)
petrel (Solander's)
pewee (eastern wood)
pewee (western wood)
phainopepla
phalarope (red)
phalarope (red-necked)
phalarope (Wilson's)
pheasant (ring-necked)
poorwill (common)
pigeon (band-tailed)
pigeon (rock)
pine siskin
pipit (American)
pipit (red-throated)
pipit (Sprague's)
plover (American golden)
plover (black-bellied)
plover (lesser-sand)
plover (mountain)
plover (Pacific golden)
plover (piping)
plover (semipalmated)
plover (snowy)
plover (Wilson's)
puffin (horned)
puffin (tufted)
pyrrhuloxia
quail (California)
quail (mountain)
rail (Virginia)
rail (yellow)
raven (common)
red knot
redpoll (common)
redpoll (hoary)
redstart (American)
redstart (painted)
robin
ruff
sanderling
sandpiper (Baird's)
sandpiper (buff-breasted)
sandpiper (curlew)
sandpiper (least)
sandpiper (pectoral)
sandpiper (rock)
sandpiper (semipalmated)
sandpiper (sharp-tailed)
sandpiper (solitary)
sandpiper (spotted)
sandpiper (stilt)
sandpiper (upland)
sandpiper (wood)
sapsucker (red-breasted)
sapsucker (red-naped)
sapsucker (yellow-bellied)
shearwater (black-vented)
shearwater (Buller's)
shearwater (flesh-footed)
shearwater (great)
shearwater (Manx)
shearwater (pink-footed)
shearwater (short-tailed)
shearwater (sooty)
shearwater (streaked)
shearwater (wedge-tailed)
shrike (loggerhead)
shrike (northern)
skua (south polar)
solitaire (Townsend's)
sora
snipe (jack)
snipe (Wilson's)
sparrow (American tree)
sparrow (black-chinned)
sparrow (black-throated)
sparrow (Brewer's)
sparrow (chipping)
sparrow (clay-colored)
sparrow (fox)
sparrow (golden-crowned)
sparrow (House)
sparrow (lark)
sparrow (LeConte's)
sparrow (Lincoln's)
sparrow (sage)
sparrow (Savannah)
sparrow (song)
sparrow (swamp)
sparrow (vesper)
sparrow (white-crowned)
sparrow (white-throated)
starling (European)
stilt (black-necked)
stint (little)
stint (long-toed)
storm-petrel (black)
storm-petrel (fork-tailed)
storm-petrel (Leach's)
storm-petrel (Wilson's)
surfbird
swallow (bank)
swallow (barn)
swallow (cliff)
swallow (northern rough-winged)
swallow (tree)
swallow (violet-green)
swan (trumpeter)
swan (tundra)
swan (whooper)
swift (black)
swift (Vaux's)
swift (white-throated)
tanager (scarlet)
tanager (summer)
tanager (western)
tern (arctic)
tern (black)
tern (Caspian)
tern (common)
tern (elegant)
tern (least)
thrasher (brown)
thrasher (California)
thrasher (curve-billed)
thrasher (sage)
thrush (gray-cheeked)
thrush (hermit)
thrush (Swainson's)
thrush (varied)
thrush (wood)
titmouse (juniper)
titmouse (oak)
towhee (California)
towhee (eastern)
towhee (green-tailed)
towhee (spotted)
tropicbird (red-billed)
turkey (wild)
turnstone (black)
turnstone (ruddy)
veery (thrush)
vireo (Bell's)
vireo (blue-headed)
vireo (Cassin's)
vireo (Hutton's)
vireo (Philadelphia)
vireo (plumbeous)
vireo (red-eyed)
vireo (warbling)
vireo (white-eyed)
vireo (yellow-throated)
vulture (turkey)
wagtail (eastern yellow)
wagtail (white)
warbler (bay-breasted)
warbler (black and white)
warbler (blackburnian)
warbler (blackpoll)
warbler (black-throated blue)
warbler (black-throated gray)
warbler (black-throated green)
warbler (blue-winged)
warbler (Canada)
warbler (Cape May)
warbler (chestnut-sided)
warbler (golden-winged)
warbler (hermit)
warbler (hooded)
warbler (Kentucky)
warbler (Lucy's)
warbler (MacGillivray's)
warbler (magnolia)
warbler (mourning)
warbler (Nashville)
warbler (orange-crowned)
warbler (palm)
warbler (pine)
warbler (prairie)
warbler (prothonotary)
warbler (Tennessee)
warbler (Townsend's)
warbler (Virginia's)
warbler (Wilson's)
warbler (worm-eating)
warbler (yellow)
warbler (yellow-rumped)
warbler (yellow-throated)
waterthrush (Louisiana)
waterthrush (northern)
waxwing (Bohemian)
waxwing (cedar)
wheatear (northern)
whimbrel
whip-poor-will (eastern)
willet
woodpecker (acorn)
woodpecker (American three-toed)
woodpecker (black-backed)
woodpecker (downy)
woodpecker (hairy)
woodpecker (Lewis's)
woodpecker (Nuttall's)
woodpecker (pileated)
woodpecker (red-headed)
woodpecker (white-headed)
wren (Bewick's)
wren (canyon)
wren (house)
wren (marsh)
wren (Pacific)
wren (rock)
wren (sedge)
wrentit
yellowlegs (greater)
yellowlegs (lesser)
yellowthroat (common)

For more information about Oregon's birds (including Latin names) click on individual animal links or for another resource: LINK