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SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Lepomis macrochirus

Traits:

The bluegill is common in Alabama. Bluegill Bream have a small head and mouth. Their body is

pan-shaped. Their color is olive green with dark vertical bars on the sides. The underside is

usually a yellow or orange color. All but small individuals have a distinct black spot toward the

rear of the soft dorsal fin. Breeding males darken, with the back and sides becoming purple.

Lifecycle:

Bluegills reproduce during the months of April into September. Bluegills live for five to six

years.

Habitat:

Bluegills are found throughout Alabama in springs and small streams to large rivers, reservoirs,

swamps, and private ponds. They reproduce during the months of April into September.

Food Web:

The Bluegill fish can be identified as an omnivore because it eats both plants and insects.

Bluegills diet includes algae, plant seeds, and aquatic vegetation. They do eat insects, small

crustaceans, fish eggs, and smaller fish. Bluegills are also predators of other fish like the

largemouth bass, turtles, racoons, and even humans.

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Scientific Name: Anaxyrus terrestris

Traits:

The Southern Toad is usually a camouflage of color including brown, gray, black, and sometimes

a small red tint. They are usually around 1.75 to 4 inch in length.

Lifecycle:

The Southern Toad experiences metamorphosis. There are four stages. They begin as an egg.

Eggs usually hatch in two to four days. After they hatch as tadpoles and undergo a

metamorphosis change that takes around 30 to 55 days. They are then called toadlets. After

reaching sexual maturity and finally becoming an adult Southern Toad in about two to three

years they continue the breeding process every year.

Habitat:

The Southern Toad is common in southern and western portions of Alabama. These vertebrates

are usually found in sandy soil environments. Some are found in marshes, hardwood swamps,

fields, and wooded areas. Most people have seen these toads will driving.

Food Web:

The Southern Toad can be classified as an omnivore because of its diet. The Southern Toad

captures its prey with a sticky tongue. The southern toad will eat small invertebrates, like beetles,

ants, cockroaches, crickets, snails, and anything else that they can swallow. Southern Toads

secrete a bufotoxin from their glands to make itself distasteful to some predators.  Also, another

defense mechanism is that they can inflate their lungs making their body puff up. This makes the

Southern Toad to look much larger than it actually is to a predator. This however does not stop

some predators. The Southern Toad provides food for snakes, fish, and turtles just to name a few.

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Scientific Name: Alligator Mississippians

Traits:

The American Alligator is almost black in color. This helps to camouflage them in the water.

They have average anywhere from 6 to 14 feet long. They have very visible upper teeth. They

also have four toes on their back legs that are webbed for swimming and five toes on the front.

Lifecycle:

The American Alligator may grow to over 8 feet at mature. They are considered to be adults at

the age of six. They can live up to 50 years of age depending on their environment. There are

four states that an American Alligator goes through. The American Alligator is hatched. This

usually takes place in late June or early July. The mother alligator typically has around 35 eggs

in her nest. The nest is made with mud, sticks, and other plants. The baby alligator stays with

there mother for two years. After that they enter adulthood.

Habitat:

The American Alligator inhabits swamps, streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes in Alabama.

Research has found that male alligators prefer open lake water in the spring, and females use

both swamp and open-water areas. During the summer months, females construct their nest and

lay their eggs, that is one reason they are found in the swamp areas. Both female and males make

dens underneath banks or trees during the winter for warmth.

Food Web:

Young American Alligators are prey for birds, turtles, snakes, mammals, and larger alligators.

When the American Alligator reaches adulthood, it becomes a top predator of the animals that

use to prey on it. American Alligators are carnivorous. Their strong jaws can crack a turtle’s shell.

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Scientific Name: Spinus Tristis

Traits:

The American Goldfinch is a small bird. This bird is usually around 11 to 14 centimeters long

with a wing span of around 19 to 22 centimeters. It weights around 11 to 20 grams. The

American Goldfinch male is bright yellow with a black forehead and black wings. He will have

white markings and white patches about and beneath his tail. The female American Goldfinch

will not be as bright of yellow beneath and have an olive tone above.

Lifecycle:

Baby American Goldfinch hatch after a 12 to 14 day period. When they hatch, they will go

through a molting period. Usually around 11 to 17 days. Their baby feathers will fall off, new

feathers will appear, and their wings will develop. The mother will push the babies out of the

nest to teach them to fly. Once they can fly and eat on their own, they will live from three up to

ten years depending on their environment.

Habitat:

The American Goldfinch usually nest in shrubbery or is found in open areas with tall grass.

Because of this birds’ size, their nest are usually about three inches wide and tall. The American

Goldfinch is a social bird. It gathers in flocks when feeding and migrating. As far as being

territorial, this bird is usually territorial during nest construction. Its breeding season is during

late July.

Food Web:

The American Goldfinch is herbivore. It eats mostly seeds and some insects. The primary seeds

are daisies. The American Goldfinch is a predator for Blue Jays, American Kestrel, Weasels,Snakes, cats, and other birds.

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Traits:

The Black Bear is the smallest of the bears in North America. They live in forest areas. The traits

of a black bear have some similarities and some differences for male and female. Both the male

and female have rounded ears, long snouts, shaggy hair, non-retractable claws, and a short tail.

They both have a large skull. However, the male can weigh up to 600 pounds with a height of

around five to six feet while the female tops out at 400 pounds with a height of four to five feet

in length.

Lifecycle:

Black Bears are independent animals, they do not usually live in large groups. Their life

expectancy is about thirty years in the wild. The female usually has three cubs per litter every

year during January to February. When the cubs are born they will stay with them mother for

about one and half years. When she mates again she will force them to leave. Hibernations

depends on the environment. Black bears may or may not hibernate depending on the weather

and food available. If they do hibernate it is usually for not more than six months.

Habitat:

Black Bears can be found in hardwood and pine forest areas, near wetlands, streams, and ponds.

These areas help support their feeding along with providing them with protection from the

environment. Black Bears like to live in caves and in wooded areas.

Food Web:

Black Bears are carnivores, but are omnivorous as well. Their diet includes insects, roots,

berries, acorns, mushrooms, grasses, mice, squirrels, deer, fish, and rubbish left by humans.

Black Bears have almost no predators. Humans are their largest predators in Alabama. However

young cubs can be attacked by large cats, bobcats, and coyotes, Their population has decreased

due to humans taking over their environment.