|
  RUFFED GROUSE
Our State Bird. In other parts of the country, grouse may be called "partridge." Ruffed grouse
weigh about 1½ pounds on the average. The predominant color may be gray or reddish-brown. Nests on the ground, often at the
base of a tree; one brood per year. The male displays to attract females he fans his tail, erects the black ruff on his neck,
and beats cupped wings to make a booming sound, called drumming. Food: buds, fruits and leaves of aspen birch, beech and maple;
grapes, other fruits and nuts. Grouse populations peak about every 10 years. Game bird.
 WHITE-TAILED DEER
The whitetail, which had virtually disappeared here by 1900, has become a common sight across
the state through careful management, including regulated hunting. Male deer, or bucks, shed their antlers yearly and grow
a new set each spring. Well nourished females (does) often have twin or triplet fawns every year. In spring and summer, deer
eat green plants; in fall and winter they switch to acorns and other nuts, twigs and buds. If fed rich food such as corn in
winter, they may get sick and die. Like cattle, deer are ruminants. The whitetail is our State Game Animal.
 EASTERN CHIPMUNK
Most Pennsylvanians know this pert little mammal, who's active during the day and inhabits
all sorts of areas, from woods to rock gardens. "Chippies" dig long, complicated burrows where they sleep and bear young,
3-5 per litter, born naked and blind. They sit on stumps, rocks, etc. to eat seeds, nuts, berries, insects and small snakes.
They store food for winter, when they sleep soundly except on warm days when they may frisk about. Chipmunks spend most of
their time on the ground rather than in trees. They are 9-10 inches long, including tail, and weigh about 3-4 ounces.
 KILLDEER
Golf courses are a favorite hangout for this bird of open fields. Although it's a shorebird, the killdeer
is often found far from water. A loud, clear kill-deee may attract your attention before you see the brown and white bird
with a double black "necklace.'' Lays eggs (usually four) in a slight, shallow scrape in dirt or gravel. If disturbed near
the nest, the female will pretend to be injured in order to lure a potential predator from the nest area. An insect-eater,
the killdeer is the farmer's and gardener's friend.
 WOODCHUCK
The woodchuck, or groundhog is the largest member of the squirrel family. 'Chucks are usually found
near farmland but may dig burrows in the woods. These later become homes for many animals, but cause problems for farmers.
The grizzled brown 'chuck, about two feet long and weighing about 10 pounds, whistles when alarmed. He eats grasses, clover,
alfalfa, plantain, apples, beans, corn and other plants. Young are born blind and naked in April, 2-6 per litter. A true hibernator.
Woodchuck meat is edible.
 BOBCAT
Pennsylvania's only wild cat, the bobcat is smaller than many folks imagine—little larger than
a big house cat. It feeds mainly on small mammals such as mice, rats, voles, rabbits and hares, as well as on birds. Once
quite common in the state, the bobcat population has declined since the 1920s. Favored habitat of brushy forest has matured
across much of the state, leaving them with fewer places to live. Most bobcats are found in the wilder parts of the state.
The bobcat was declared a game animal and given total protection here in 1970.
 AMERICAN ROBIN
Perhaps the first bird most people learn to recognize, "robin redbreast'' is a brown bird with
darker head and tail and a rusty-red breast. The male's breast in spring is the most vivid. The robin's call is a series of
chirps, rising and falling. Food: earthworms and insects. Young robins often fall out of their nests and die, but robins produce
so many young each year that the population remains fairly stable. Nests are of mud and grass, in a tree or on a ledge. These
nests are protected, as are those of most songbirds, by federal law.
 EASTERN BLUEBIRD
Once a common sight in the Pennsylvania countryside, the bluebird has dwindled in the past
half-century. Among the many reasons for its decline are loss of tree-cavity nesting spots, and competition for the few sites
from house sparrows and starlings. Many outdoorsmen erect suitable bluebird nest boxes in an effort to bring back this lovely
little bird with the voracious appetite for insects. Boxes must be the exact size to let bluebirds in and keep competitors
out. Both sexes are blue with reddish throat and breast, but the male is much brighter. Favorite habitat is open farmland
and roadsides. Call, a soft warble.
 GREAT BLUE HERON
The heron is a large wading bird with long legs and neck. The great blue is about three feet
tall, with a gray-blue body, white head and black "eyebrow" plume. Herons walk slowly through fresh- or salt-water shallows
hunting fish, frogs, and crustaceans; they may also eat small mammals and reptiles. Nest in trees, in colonies called "rookeries."
In Pennsylvania, great blues breed mostly in northwestern counties. Call, a hoarse squawk. The neck is crooked in flight.
Some individuals remain through winter on open water, though most migrate south.
 VIRGINIA OPOSSUM
Only North American "pouched" or marsupial mammal. (The kangaroo is an Australian marsupial.)
Up to 18 young are born naked and blind, each smaller than a honeybee. They climb up to mother's pouch where they live 4-6
weeks, attached to nipples. Opossums live in open woods, swamps and wastelands. Bed is a nest of leaves in a hollow log, tree
cavity, or burrow. They eat almost anything: fruits, nuts, corn, worms, insects, frogs, snakes, birds, small mammals, eggs.
Most weigh 4-10 pounds. The flesh is edible, and the fur is used for trimmings.
 LONG-TAILED WEASEL
One of three weasels in the state, all of which have long, slender bodies. This species has
a long, black-tipped tail; head and body are about 1-1½ feet long (females, slightly smaller). Some individuals turn white
in winter except for the tail-tip; most remain brown. Usually nocturnal, the weasel may sometimes move around in daytime;
in winter, weasel tracks are often seen in the snow. Hairless and blind young (5 or 6) are born in a burrow in May. The weasel's
appetite for small rodents makes him a welcome guest; he may also eat insects, frogs, snakes and birds.
 NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD
"King of Songs" could be his title—or "The Great Pretender." He's a long-tailed bird,
dark gray above, light gray beneath, with white patches on wings and tail. He sings almost constantly, especially on clear
spring nights, imitating many bird songs as well as other animal sounds, whistles, creaking doors, musical instruments, and
so on. Some folks find this annoying; others, a source of continual amusement and pleasure. The singing male prefers a high
perch—often a television antenna. Food: insects and wild fruits. Rare here in earlier years; now fairly common in southern
Pennsylvania.
 STRIPED SKUNK
All mustelids have scent glands, but the skunk's the champ! If he feels threatened and raises
his hind end, watch out for a potent-smelling defense. Weighing about 2½-7 pounds, this skunk is black with a V-shaped white
stripe and bushy tail. Found often near farmlands, where he digs a den or uses an old 'chuck hole to sleep in during the day
and in very cold weather. Kits are born in late March, naked but with the stripe pattern showing on their skin. Foods: insects,
fruits, grains small rodents, eggs. Fur is sometimes used in coats.
 MALLARD
Best-known of our waterfowl, mallards may remain here all year where water is free of ice. The male
(drake) has an iridescent green head, white neck band and reddish chest; the hen is mottled brown. Both sexes have a bluish-purple
patch on the wings, called a speculum. Eight to 10 eggs are laid in a nest on the ground. Food: mostly aquatic plants, some
grain, insects and small fish. Call is a loud quack. Wild birds may join domestic ducks, and may interbreed with domestic
or other wild ducks. Duck hunting is regulated by state and federal laws.
 BLACK BEAR
The only species of bear in Pennsylvania; most common in northcentral and northeastern counties.
Some are brown ("cinnamon'') rather than black. Prefers forests, dense swamps; sometimes visits farmlands. Bears eat almost
anything, including garbage and will freeload if given a chance. One to four cubs are born while the female is in winter den.
Most females have cubs every other year. Bears don't truly hibernate, but sleep soundly in nests or dens in hollow stumps,
caves and under trees. Average adult weights: male, 150-400 pounds; female, 115-200 pounds.
 PORCUPINE
The ''porkie'' is one mammal most people recognize—his quills (really modified hairs) are an
outstanding feature. They stick into just about anything that brushes against them, and are hard to remove. The porcupine
eats almost any kind of vegetation and in winter will eat twigs or the inner bark of trees. He may gnaw on wooden tools or
buildings, to the owners' dismay. A creature of forests, the porkie is most active at night. Under the quills he's about the
size of a large house cat. Females usually have one baby every year or two.
 RED FOX
Spirited Reynard of the fox chase, with a handsome red coat, black ears and legs, and white throat,
belly and tail-tip. Length: 3-3½ feet including a bushy l6-inch tail. The female is slightly smaller than the male. Favorite
habitat is rolling farmland interspersed with woods. This fox may dig its own den or use old woodchuck burrows. Usually 4-7
pups are born in April, with woolly fur but eyes closed. Both parents care for pups. Red foxes eat small mammals and birds;
also eggs, fruit, and insects. The bark sounds like a small dog. Fur is quite valuable.
 BEAVER
One of the world's largest rodents, the beaver may weigh up to 60 pounds. Webbed hind feet propel him
through water, a broad flat tail serves as rudder. Gone from Pennsylvania by the late 1800's, beaver were restocked beginning
in 1917, protected for a while, and now have healthy, trappable populations. They build dams to create ponds in which they
build lodges, or may build streambank burrows. Food is the inner bark of trees. Usually four kits are born in May fully furred
and with eyes open. Beavers have long been prized for their fine fur.
 EUROPEAN STARLING
This bird is so common here that it's hard to believe it's not native to the United States,
but was brought in from Europe in 1890. First introduced into New York's Central Park, it had reached Pennsylvania by 1904.
Now it roosts, often on city buildings, by the tens of thousands and may be a real nuisance. Starlings drive native birds
such as bluebirds from their nest cavities. On the other hand, they eat a lot of insects. Starlings are iridescent black with
a yellow bill in summer; black speckled with white, with a dark bill in winter.
 EASTERN COTTONTAIL
The rabbit's legendary love for vegetables gets him into trouble with home gardeners. But,
along with voles and mice, rabbits are a vital part of Pennsylvania's food chain. They're taken in large numbers by foxes,
hawks, owls and other predators; to make up for this, their breeding rate is also legendary. With suitable habitat, including
escape cover, rabbits flourish despite animal predation and hunting. Cottontails are most active at dawn and dusk. Young—up
to 6 or 7 litters a year—are born naked and blind.
 EVENING GROSBEAK
Most often seen in winter at the backyard feeder—some years quite common, other years
absent. When it does appear here, it's most easily attracted by sunflower seeds. About the same size as the cardinal, with
whom it may be seen at the feeder, the grosbeak's black, white, and yellow are nicely set off by the cardinal's red. In both
species, the female's color is duller than the male's. Outside the backyard, its favorite habitat is coniferous forests, its
favorite food the seeds of box-elder. Call is a loud chirp.
 CANADA GOOSE
Along with turkeys, our largest game birds. With careful management the population nationwide doubled
between 1955 and 1975. Both sexes have a brown body and black head and neck, with a white cheek patch. Some Canadas winter
here; most migrate in V formations, honking loudly. Adults mate for life, breeding when three years old. They nest on the
ground near water, and readily use artificial nesting devices. Food: aquatic plants, roots, grains and insects. May bother
landowners by grazing heavily on fields near wetlands.
 RIVER OTTER
Intelligent, playful, sleek, powerful—all describe river otters. Less plentiful than they
once were, otters need clean water and freedom from too much human disturbance. An adult otter is about three feet long with
a one-foot tail. A blunt muzzle contains sharp teeth for eating aquatic animals and plants. Otters are shy and are active
mostly at night, so are seldom seen. Some fishermen resent their eating occasional game fish (otters eat more crayfish and
small nongame fish); others feel otters are worth a trout now and then.
 RING-NECKED PHEASANT
This popular game bird is a native of Asia, first successfully stocked in this country
in Oregon in 1881. Pennsylvania's first effort to permanently establish the ringneck was in 1915. The brightly-colored iridescent
male takes off with a loud cackle when flushed. Hen pheasants are much better camouflaged in brown and black. Favorite habitat:
grain fields, meadows, bushy fence rows, open marshes, old weed fields and pastures. Eats at least 56 species of plant foods
and many insects; quite fond of corn.
 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD
Lucky is the person who spies this three-inch bit of brightness hovering insectlike
near a blossom. Only the male has the bright-red throat; both sexes are iridescent green above and white below. The call is
a rapid squeak, but you may also hear their high-speed wings "humming" in flight. Food is insects and nectar, especially from
tubular red or orange flowers, easily lured to sugar-water feeders. The nest is a tiny cup fashioned of floss from milkweed
and other plants, held together with spider or tentworm silk, and covered with bits of lichen. It holds eggs (usually two)
the size of small beans.
 WILD TURKEY
Our biggest upland game bird a male (gobbler) may weigh 15 pounds or more. Distinguished from domestic
turkeys by the brown tips on tailfeathers (domestics' are white). The "beard" of modified feathers is seldom found on hens.
The male gobbles and struts to attract females, fanning his tail and drooping his wings to the ground. Turkeys are usually
found in or near the woods; young birds (poults) spend much time in clearings where they feed on insects. Later, they'll eat
fruit, nuts, grains and green plants. Turkeys avoid flying but do it surprisingly well.
 BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE
Every hunter, hiker, and skier probably knows this pert little gray-white-and-black bundle
of woodland energy. They've enjoyed his curiosity—he'll edge closer and closer if you remain quite still—and his
bright TSICK-dee-dee-dee which enlivens the winter woods. He's around all year long, but is most noticeable in winter when
many other birds have departed for sunnier places. He's often seen with nuthatches, titmice and downy woodpeckers in winter.
Insects fuel his fires; he's a great benefit to farmers and foresters.
 GRAY SQUIRREL
The nickname "bushytail" refers to his fluffy tail, almost as long as his body, which lends balance
in his amazing acrobatics. Grizzled gray (more or less rusty along the back) with a white belly. The black color phase is
common in northern Pennsylvania. The hind legs are powerful, the front paws dainty and agile for handling nuts, seeds, fruits,
and occasional insects and mushrooms. Squirrels may build temporary "nests"—balls of leaves and twigs high in a tree.
Young (4-5) are born in a tree cavity or man made nest box. Adults weigh about 1-1½ pounds. The meat is quite tasty.
 SNOWSHOE HARE
The snowshoe gets his name from his big feet, made bigger in winter by thick, coarse fur. He also
changes from brown in summer to white in winter. Unlike rabbits, hares are born fully furred, with eyes open. But like rabbits
(and deer), they eat mostly green plants in summer, woody browse (twigs, buds and bark) in winter. Hares like high elevation
swamps, brushy areas, and mixed hardwoods and conifers. Mature forests don't suit them well, one reason they're less common
now than right after the big logging boom.
 AMERICAN KESTREL
Smallest but most colorful Pennsylvania falcon, often seen perched on telephone wires watching
for prey. The robin-size kestrel has a rusty back, speckled breast, gray forehead and black whisker- and ear-marks; males
have blue-gray wings, females rusty wings. Nests in tree cavities or nest boxes sometimes in building eaves. Kestrels prefer
to eat insects, especially grasshoppers, but will also eat small mammals, reptiles and birds. You may see one hovering above
a field, then dropping on prey. Call, a distinctive killy-killy-killy.
 RACCOON
The "masked bandit" who raids suburban garbage cans and camp food boxes. Active at night, the 'coon
usually stays near water. He often "washes" food before eating. Food is varied: fruits, nuts, corn, insects, grain, eggs,
crayfish. Most adults weigh 14-18 pounds. Young are born blind and naked in early April, 3-6 per litter, and stay with mother
until late fall. 'Coons sleep deeply in winter, but don't actually hibernate. Hollow trees make good dens. During the day,
you may see one asleep in a high tree-crotch. Raccoon fur is valuable, and the flesh is edible.
 RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE
Despite its obscure-sounding name, this is a common bird of brushy woods, often mistaken
for a robin. Its red, however, is just on the sides, not the whole breast. Neck, head and back are black in males, brown in
females. It sings DRINK-your-TEA repeatedly, trilling the tea. The towhee (pronounced TOE-he) scratches through leaves on
the ground looking for insects and seeds and hops from bush to bush in the undergrowth, making lots of noise. Some individuals
remain in Pennsylvania all year.
 FLYING SQUIRREL
Despite its name, this squirrel doesn't really fly, but glides from high to lower points using
skin stretched between front and hind legs. Silky brown-furred back, white belly and big black eyes make him most appealing.
The eastern species is a bit smaller and lighter than a chipmunk; the northern species is chipmunk-size. Both live in wooded
areas but are seldom seen because they're only active at night. One or two litters of blind, naked young are born yearly in
tree-cavity nests. Food is varied: seeds, nuts, berries, insects, sometimes mice, small birds and eggs.
 MUSKRAT
Looking something like a cross between a beaver and a vole—and about midway between them in size—is
this mammal of marshes, ponds and streams. Primarily a vegetarian specializing in cattails, the muskrat will also eat small
animals. The muskrat is a prolific breeder. Home may be a lodge of mud and plant material in shallow water, or a burrow in
pond- or streambank. Burrows may damage ponds; fortunately, muskrat fur is valuable, and a good way to solve such problems
is to invite in a responsible trapper to thin the rat population.
 DOWNY WOODPECKER
Most abundant of our woodpeckers, this little sparrow-sized bird with black and white wings
and white back is well-known to outdoorsmen. The male has a red patch on his head. Call is a soft pik; most common sound is
the tap-tap-tap of a downy looking for beetle eggs and grubs. True friends of foresters, woodpeckers help control wood destroying
insects, and hollow out nests only in the softer wood of dead or dying limbs. Abandoned woodpecker nests are often used by
other birds and mammals. The hairy woodpecker is almost a twin but a few inches bigger.
 SCREECH OWL
Small (about eight inches) but very common owl, with ear-tufts and yellow eyes. Mottled, color varies
from reddish to brownish to gray (gray is most common in Pennsylvania). Year-round resident in lightly wooded areas and suburbs.
Nests in tree cavities or nest boxes, and will defend nest fearlessly, attacking humans which venture near. Mostly nocturnal,
flies silently. Eats small mammals (mostly mice); also insects, small reptiles, house sparrows. Voice: a quavering, descending
wail, heard most often at dusk.
 RED-TAILED HAWK
The most common hawk, a year-round resident of our state, is the redtail. As you might guess
from its name, its most striking characteristic is a rusty-red tail. Spread in flight, with sun shining down through it, that
tail is quite striking; when conditions are not so good, however, it may not look red at all. The back and upper wings are
brown, the underparts more or less speckled but with a distinct band of darker speckles across the belly. Often seen perched
in a tree near open country, or soaring above searching with sharp eyes for small rodents.
 TURKEY VULTURE
An unattractive bird with an unpleasant odor; yet immensely valuable. Vultures eat carrion; you
might call them the garbage disposers of the bird world. What a mess we'd have without them! Common in summer; some stay through
winter in southeastern and occasionally southwestern counties. Large, black bird with naked red head. High, soaring flight;
wingspread about six feet; wings are black in front, light gray at tips and back, characteristically held in a shallow V rather
than straight out. Nests in rock crevices or hollow logs.
|
