Washington has a wide variety of natural communities including marine waters, tide pools, estuaries, rainforests, dry coniferous forests, subalpine and alpine meadows and parklands, shrub-steppe, grasslands, prairies, sand dunes, riparian areas, and many types of freshwater wetland.
Coastal Habitats
Washington’s marine habitats include deep marine waters, eelgrass beds, tide pools, rocky bluffs, dune systems, estuaries, and beaches. Coastal ecosystems provide habitat for migrating shorebirds while tide pools are home to starfish, anemones, fish and crabs. In deeper water there are killer whales, seals, dolphins, sea otters and even octopus.
Forests
Evergreen forests of sitka spruce and western hemlock trees dominate with the largest trees reaching 250 feet tall and 60-feet around. These trees can live for hundreds of years. These wet forest are also perfect habitat for mosses, ferns, and lichens as the thick canopy helps keep the temperature from getting too hot or cold. Here you can find largest herd of Roosevelt elk in the United States and the rare northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet.
The Olympic Peninsula has rare temperate rainforests where each year it can rain up to 14 feet!
Mountains - Volcanoes
Washington is the home of Mount Rainier with its rocky alpine slopes, ridges, subalpine meadows, lakes, forests with towering trees, waterfalls, and streams and rivers. Volcanic peaks in Washington also include Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak, and Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens.
Wetlands
Washington state has many kinds of wetlands including sphagnum bogs (peat wetlands), freshwater wetlands (fens, marshes and swamps), Columbia River Gorge wetlands (riparian wetlands with year-round or seasonally flooding along the river), overflow plain wetlands (occuring along rivers like the Columbia with old channels, backwater areas, ponds and islands) and surge plain wetlands (tidal freshwater wetlands that are found along large rivers. The water levels rise and fall with the tides, but the water is almost always fresh).
For more information about Washington state's Natural Communities go to: LINK
Land Mammals
badger
bat (big brown)
bat (California myotis)
bat (fringed-tailed myotis)
bat (hoary)
bat (Keen's)
bat (little brown myotis)
bat (long-eared myotis)
bat (long-legged brown)
bat (pallid)
bat (silver-haired)
bat (spotted)
bat (western pipistrelle)
bat (western big-eared)
bat (western small-footed myotis)
bat (Yuma)
bear (black)
bear (grizzly)
beaver (American)
beaver (mountain)
bighorn sheep
bison
bobcat
caribou (American woodland)
chipmunk (least)
chipmunk (red-tailed)
chipmunk (Townsend's)
chipmunk (yellow-pine)
coyote
deer (mule)
deer (white-tailed)
elk
fisher
fox (red)
ground squirrel (California)
ground squirrel (Cascade)
ground squirrel (Columbian)
ground squirrel (golden-mantled)
ground squirrel (Washington)
hare (black-tailed)
hare (snowshoe)
hare (white-tailed)
jumping mouse (Pacific)
jumping mouse (western)v
kangaroo rat (Ord's)
lemming (northern bog)
lynx (Canadian)
marmot (hoary)
marmot (Olympic)
marmot (yellow-bellied)
marten (American)
mink
mole (coast)
mole (Gibb's)
mole (Townsend's shrew-mole)
moose
mountain goat
mountain lion
mouse (deer)
mouse (forest deer)
mouse (house)
mouse (northern grasshopper)
mouse (western harvest)
muskrat
nutria
opossum (Virginia)
otter (river)
otter (sea)
pika (American)
pocket gopher (northern)
pocket gopher (western)
pocket mouse (Great Basin)
porcupine
rabbit (brush)
rabbit (eastern cottontail)
rabbit (European)
rabbit (Nuttall's cottontail)
rabbit (pygmy)
raccoon
rat (black)
rat (Norway)
shrew (cinereus)
shrew (dusky)
shrew (marsked)
shrew (Merriam's)
shrew (montane)
shrew (Pacific water)
shrew (Preble's)
shrew (pygmy)
shrew (Trowbridge's)
shrew (wandering)
shrew (water)
skunk (striped)
skunk (western spotted)
squirrel (Douglas's)
squirrel (eastern gray)
squirrel (fox)
squirrel (northern flying)
squirrel (red)
squirrel (western gray)
vole (California red-backed)
vole (creeping)
vole (gray-tailed)
vole (heather)
vole (long-tailed)
vole (meadow)
vole (Montane)
vole (prairie)
vole (sagebrush)
vole (southern red-backed)
vole (Townsend's)
weasel (long-tailed)
weasel (short-tailed) or ermine
wolf (gray)
wolverine
woodchuck
woodrat (bushy-tailed)
Ocean Mammals
dolphin (common)
dolphin (northern right whale)
dolphin (Pacific striped)
dolphin (Pacific white-sided)
dolphin (Risso's)
porpoise (Dall)
porpoise (harbor)
seal (harbor)
seal (northern elephant)
seal (northern fur)
sea lion (California)
sea lion (northern)
whale (arch beaked)
whale (Baird's beaked)
whale (Bering Sea beaked)
whale (blue)
whale (false killer)
whale (fin)
whale (goose beaked)
whale (Gray)
whale (humpback)
whale (minke)
whale (Pacific killer)
whale (Pacific right)
whale (short-finned pilot)
whale (sei)
For more information about Washington's mammals (including Latin names) click on individual animal links or for another resource: LINK
Amphibians
bullfrog (American)
Ensatina
frog (Cascades)
frog (coastal tailed)
frog (Columbia spotted)
frog (green)
frog (leopard)
frog (northern red-legged)
frog (Oregon spotted)
newt (rough-skinned)
salamander (Cascade torrent)
salamander (Columbia torrent)
salamander (coastal giant)
salamander (Cope's giant)
salamander (Dunn's)
salamander (larch mountain)
salamander (long-toed)
salamander (northwestern)
salamander (Olympic torrent)
salamander (tiger)
salamander (Van Dyke)
salamander (western red-backed)
treefrog (Pacific)
toad (Great Basin spadefoot)
toad (western)
toad (Woodhouse)
Reptiles
lizard (northern alligator)
lizard (sagebrush)
lizard (short-horned)
lizard (side-blotched)
lizard (southern alligator)
lizard (western fence)
rattlesnake (western)
skink (western)
snake (California mountain kingsnake)
snake (common garter)
snake (gopher)
snake (northwestern garter)
snake (Puget Sound garter)
snake (racer)
snake (red-spotted garter)
snake (right)
snake (ringneck)
snake (rubber boa)
snake (sharp-tailed)
snake (valley garter)
snake (western terrestrial garter)
turtle (painted)
turtle (snapping)
turtle (western pond)
whipsnake (striped)
Ocean Reptiles:
seaturtle (green)
seaturtle (leatherback)
seaturtle (loggerhead)
seaturtle (Pacific ridley)
For more information about Washington'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 (shy)
accentor (Siberian)
auklet (Cassin's)
auklet (parakeet)
auklet (rhinoceros)
auklet (whiskered)
avocet (American)
bittern (American)
blackbird (Brewer's)
blackbird (red-winged)
blackbird (rusty)
blackbird (yellow-headed)
bluebird (mountain)
bluebird (western)
blackbird (tricolored)
bobolink
bobwhite (northern)
booby (blue-footed)
booby (brown)
brambling
bunting (indigo)
bunting (Lazuli)
bunting (McKay's)
bunting (rustic)
bunting (snow)
bushtit
catbird (gray)
chat (yellow-breasted)
chickadee (black-capped)
chickadee (boreal)
chickadee (chestnut-backed)
chickadee (mountain)
condor (California)
coot (American)
cormorant (Brandt's)
cormorant (double-crested)
cormorant (pelagic)
cormorant (red-faced)
cowbird (brown-headed)
crane (sandhill)
creeper (brown)
crossbill (red)
crossbill (white-winged)
crow (American)
crow (northwestern)
cuckoo (black-billed)
cuckoo (yellow-billed)
curlew (bristle-thighed)
curlew (little)
curlew (long-billed)
dickcissel
dipper (American)
dove (band-tailed pigeon)
dove (Eurasian collared)
dove (mourning)
dove (rock) - pigeon
dove (white-winged)
dowitcher (long-billed)
dowitcher (short-billed)
duck (American black)
duck (American wigeon)
duck (black scoter)
duck (barrow's goldeneye)
duck (bufflehead)
duck (canvasback)
duck (cinnamon teal)
duck (common eider)
duck (common goldeneye)
duck (common teal)
duck (king eider)
duck (Eurasian wigeon)
duck (falcated)
duck (fulvous whistling)
duck (gadwall)
duck (garganey)
duck (greater scaup)
duck (harlequin)
duck (lesser scaup)
duck (long-tailed)
duck (mallard)
duck (northern pintail)
duck (northern shoveler)
duck (redhead)
duck (ring-necked)
duck (ruddy)
duck (smew)
duck (Stellar's eider)
duck (surf scoter)
duck (tufted)
duck (white-winged scoter)
duck (wood)
dunlin
eagle (bald)
eagle (golden)
egret (cattle)
egret (great)
egret (snowy)
falcon (gyrfalcon)
falcon (peregrine)
falcon (prairie)
finch (Cassin's)
finch (house)
finch (gray-crowned rosy-finch)
finch (purple)
flicker (northern)
flycatcher (alder)
flycatcher (ash-throated)
flycatcher (fork-tailed)
flycatcher (grey)
flycatcher (Hammond's)
flycatcher (least)
flycatcher (olive-sided)
flycatcher (Pacific-slope)
flycatcher (scissor-tailed)
flycatcher (vermillion)
flycatcher (willow)
frigatebird (magnificent)
fulmar (northern)
gnatcatcher (blue-gray)
godwit (bar-tailed)
godwit (Hudsonian)
godwit (marbled)
goldfinch (American)
goldfinch (lesser)
goose (bean)
goose (Brant)
goose (Canada)
goose (Emperor)
goose (great white-fronted)
goose (Ross's)
goose (tundra)
grackle (common)
grackle (great-tailed)
grèbe (black-necked)
grèbe (Clarke's)
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 (sage)
grouse (ruffed)
grouse (sharp-tailed)
grouse (sooty)
grouse (spruce)
guillemot (pigeon)
gull (Bonaparte’s)
gull (black-headed)
gull (black-tailed)
gull (California)
gull (Franklin's)
gull (glaucous)
gull (glaucous-winged)
gull (great black-backed)
gull (Heermann's)
gull (herring)
gull (Iceland)
gull (ivory)
gull (laughing)
gull (lesser black-backed)
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 (northern goshawk)
hawk (red-shouldered)
hawk (red-tailed)
hawk (rough-legged)
hawk (sharp-shinned)
hawk (Swainson's)
heron (great blue)
heron (green)
heron (black-crowned night)
heron (yellow-crowned night)
hobby (Eurasian)
hummingbird (Allen's)
hummingbird (Anna's)
hummingbird (black-chinned)
hummingbird (broad-tailed)
hummingbird (calliope)
hummingbird (Costa's)
hummingbird (ruby-throated)
hummingbird (rufous)
ibis (white)
ibis (white-faced)
jaeger (long-tailed)
jaeger (parasitic)
jaeger (pomarine)
jay (blue)
jay (Clark's nutcracker)
jay (gray)
jay (pinyon)
jay (Stellar's)
jay (western scrub)
junco (dark-eyed)
kestrel (American)
kestrel (common)
killdeer
kingbird (eastern)
kingbird (western)
kingbird (tropical)
kingfisher (belted)
kinglet (golden-crowned)
kinglet (ruby-crowned)
kite (white-tailed)
Kittiwake (black-legged)
Kittiwake (red-legged)
lark (horned)
lark (sky)
longspur (chestnut-collared)
longspur (Lapland)
loon (Arctic)
loon (common)
loon (Pacific)
loon (red-throated)
loon (yellow-billed)
magpie (black-billed)
martin (purple)
martin (sand)
meadowlark (western)
merlin
merganser (common)
merganser (hooded)
merganser (red-breasted)
mockingbird (northern)
murre (common)
murre (thick-billed)
murrelet (ancient)
murrelet (Kittkitz's)
murrelet (long-billed)
murrelet (marbled)
murrelet ((Xantus's)
nighthawk (common)
nuthatch (pygmy)
nuthatch (red-breasted)
nuthatch (white-breasted)
oriole (Baltimore)
oriole (Bullock's)
oriole (hooded)
oriole (orchard)
oriole (Scott's)
osprey
ovenbird
owl (barn)
owl (barred)
owl (boreal)
owl (burrowing)
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)
pelican (brown)
petrel (Cook's)
petrel (mottled)
petrel (Murphy's)
pewee (western wood)
phainopepla
phalarope (red)
phalarope (red-necked)
pheasant (ring-necked)
phalarope (Wilson's)
phobe (black)
phobe (eastern)
phobe (Say's)
poorwill (common)
prairie-chicken (greater)
pine siskin
pipit (American)
pipit (red-throated)
plover (American golden)
plover (grey)
plover (Kentish)
plover (lesser-sand)
plover (mountain)
plover (Pacific golden)
plover (piping)
plover (semipalmated)
poorwill (common)
ptarmigan (white-tailed)
puffin (horned)
puffin (tufted)
quail (California)
quail (mountain)
rail (Virginia)
rail (yellow)
raven (common)
redpoll (common)
redpoll (hoary)
redwing
redstart (American)
robin (American)
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 (western)
sandpiper (white-rumped)
sapsucker (red-breasted)
sapsucker (red-naped)
sapsucker (Williamson's)
sapsucker (yellow-bellied)
shearwater (Buller's)
shearwater (flesh-footed)
shearwater (Manx)
shearwater (pink-footed)
shearwater (short-tailed)
shearwater (sooty)
shearwater (wedge-tailed)
shrike (loggerhead)
shrike (northern)
skua (south polar)
solitaire (Townsend's)
sora
snipe (common)
snipe (jack)
sparrow (American tree)
sparrow (black-throated)
sparrow (Brewer's)
sparrow (chipping)
sparrow (clay-colored)
sparrow (fox)
sparrow (golden-crowned)
sparrow (grasshopper)
sparrow (Harris's)
sparrow (house)
sparrow (lark)
sparrow (LeConte's)
sparrow (Lincoln's)
sparrow (Nelson's sharp-tailed)
sparrow (sage)
sparrow (Savannah)
sparrow (song)
sparrow (swamp)
sparrow (vesper)
sparrow (white-crowned)
sparrow (white-throated)
starling (European)
stilt (black-necked)
stint (little)
storm-petrel (fork-tailed)
storm-petrel (Leach's)
storm-petrel (Wilson's)
swallow (barn)
swallow (cliff)
swallow (northern rough-winged)
swallow (tree)
swallow (violet-green)
swan (mute)
swan (trumpeter)
swan (tundra)
swift (black)
swift (Vaux's)
swift (white-throated)
tanager (summer)
tanager (western)
tattler (gray-tailed)
tattler (wandering)
tern (Arctic)
tern (black)
tern (Caspian)
tern (common)
tern (elegant)
tern (Forster's)
tern (least)
thrasher (brown)
thrasher (sage)
thrush (dusky)
thrush (gray-cheeked)
thrush (hermit)
thrush (Swainson's)
thrush (varied)
towhee (green-tailed)
towhee (spotted)
tropicbird (red-billed)
turkey (wild)
turnstone (black)
turnstone (ruddy)
veery (thrush)
vireo (blue-headed)
vireo (Cassin's)
vireo (eastern warbling)
vireo (Hutton's)
vireo (Philadelphia)
vireo (red-eyed)
vireo (white-eyed)
vireo (yellow-throated)
vulture (turkey)
wagtail (white)
wagtail (yellow)
warbler (black and white)
warbler (blackburnian)
warbler (blackpoll)
warbler (black-throated blue)
warbler (black-throated gray)
warbler (black-throated green)
warbler (blue-winged)
warbler (Cape May)
warbler (chestnut-sided)
warbler (golden-winged)
warbler (hermit)
warbler (hooded)
warbler (Kentucky)
warbler (MacGillivray's)
warbler (magnolia)
warbler (mourning)
warbler (Nashville)
warbler (orange-crowned)
warbler (palm)
warbler (prairie)
warbler (prothonotary)
warbler (Tennessee)
warbler (Townsend's)
warbler (Virginia's)
warbler (Wilson's)
warbler (yellow)
warbler (yellow-rumped)
warbler (yellow-throated)
waterthrush (northern)
waxwing (Bohemian)
waxwing (cedar)
whimbrel
willet
woodpecker (acorn)
woodpecker (American three-toed)
woodpecker (black-backed)
woodpecker (downy)
woodpecker (hairy)
woodpecker (Lewis's)
woodpecker (pileated)
woodpecker (white-headed)
wren (Bewick's)
wren (canyon)
wren (house)
wren (marsh)
wren (rock)
wren (winter)
yellowlegs (greater)
yellowlegs (lesser)
yellowthroat (common)
For more information about Washington's birds (including Latin names) click on individual animal links or for another resource: LINK
