Animal and Habitat Fact Sheets
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The endangered black-footed ferret is a member of the weasel family. It is the only ferret native to North America - the domestic ferret is a different species of European origin and has been domesticated for hundreds of years - and has a tan body with black legs and feet, a black tip on the tail and a black mask.
The black-tailed prairie dog is a member of the squirrel family. Of the five species of prairie dogs in western North America, only the black-tailed prairie dog lives in the Great Plains.
The most common wildcat in North America, the bobcat is named for its short, bobbed tail. They are medium-sized cats and are slightly smaller but similar in appearance to their cousin, the lynx. Their coats vary in color from shades of beige to brown fur with spotted or lined markings in dark brown or black.
Burrowing owls are so named because they live underground in burrows that have been dug out by small mammals like ground squirrels and prairie dogs.
Butterflies (Order: Lepidoptera) are brightly colored flying insects with two pairs of large wings that vary in color and pattern from species to species. Butterfly wings are covered with overlapping rows of tiny scales, a characteristic butterflies share with their fellow lepidopterans, the moths.
Cactus ferruginous pygmy-owls are one of three subspecies of the ferruginous pygmy-owl. They have longer tails than most owls, are reddish-brown with a cream colored belly and have a crown that is lightly streaked.
The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) is the largest terrestrial bird in North America. It is black in color and sports a bald head with very few feathers.
The lynx is a medium-sized cat characterized by its long ear tufts and short (bobbed) tail with a black tip. It has unusually large paws that act as snow shoes in very deep snow and its thick fur and long legs make it appear larger than it really is.
The Cerulean warbler (Dendroica cerulea) is a small, sky-blue bird most often seen flitting around the upper canopy of mature deciduous eastern forests. As with most warblers, males and females look quite different from each other. Male cerulean warblers are bright blue above and white below.
The Channel Island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is a cat-sized carnivore and descendant of the gray fox that colonized the Channel Islands approximately 10,000 years ago. It is the only carnivore unique to California and is the smallest fox species in the United States.