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The Problem With Invasive Plants | About Invasive Plants | The City of Portland, Oregon

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Invasive plants aren't just a Portland problem. There are regional, state and federal efforts to combat invasive vegetation. The Oregon Invasive Species Council estimates that invasive plants cost the U.S. economy $120 billion dollars annually in lost crop and livestock production, control efforts, property value damage, and reduced export potential.

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Echinoderms: Urchin Time-lapse Eating Kelp

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Time-lapse video shows how urchins actively graze on kelp.

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Mountain Goats return to Mt. St. Helens as the environment changes.

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Mountain Goats return to Mt. St. Helens as the environment changes.

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John Bishop of Washington State University

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Mount St. Helens: Rising From the Ashes - Science Nation

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The area of Southern Washington State around the Mt. St. Helens Volcano has been nearly devoid of life since the 1980 eruption -- making it a biology lab like no other as scientists observe it springing back to life.

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The eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 decimated the vast majority of plant and animal life in the area. But slowly, life returned to the blast zone. Hear from ecologist Charlie Crisafulli on nature's marvelous recovery.

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Information on Bryant Woods hike and ecosystem, with other links.

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Information on Bryant Woods hike and ecosystem, with other links.

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Bryant Woods-Canal Acres Loop Hike - Hiking in Portland, Oregon and Washington

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Canal Road extends from the parking area. Walk towards a shelter, but before reaching it, go left on a boardwalk and into a thicket of cottonwoods, hawthorn, big-leaf maple, salal, hazel, sword fern, Douglas-fir, and Indian plum. At a junction, go left on a rocky tread.

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Here is information about many common animals found in Michigan, and a few that live in other places. You could find many of these animals in or around your schoolyard. Remember that this is just a little bit of animal biodiversity. There are many many other kinds of animals in other places. If you want to learn about animals that don't live in southeast Michigan, you can go to the Animal Diversity Web.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish are all vertebrates - they have a "spinal column" made up of many bones.

While vertebrates are more familiar to most people, there are many, many more species of invertebrates. In Michigan alone there are over 20,000 species, mostly insects, but also snails, clams, worms, arachnids, crustaceans, and other creatures. There are many more that have never been seen and are still unknown to science. Around the world, there are millions of species of invertebrates. Most of those invertebrates are insects. In comparison, the number of vertebrates is closer to tens of thousands.

For simplicity's sake, we have presented six main groups of invertebrates, distinguished by the number of legs they have.

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Here is information about many common animals found in Michigan, and a few that live in other places. You could find many of these animals in or around your schoolyard. Remember that this is just a little bit of animal biodiversity. There are many many other kinds of animals in other places.

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Habitat

American Crows are highly adaptable and will live in any open place that offers a few trees to perch in and a reliable source of food. Regularly uses both natural and human created habitats, including farmland, pasture, landfills, city parks, golf courses, cemeteries, yards, vacant lots, highway turnarounds, feedlots, and the shores of rivers, streams, and marshes. Crows tend to avoid unbroken expanses of forest, but do show up at forest campgrounds and travel into forests along roads and rivers. Avoids deserts. Back to top

Food

American Crows eat a vast array of foods, including grains, seeds, nuts, fruits, berries, and many kinds of small animals such as earthworms and mice. They eat many insects, including some crop pests, and also eat aquatic animals such as fish, young turtles, crayfish, mussels, and clams. A frequent nest predator, the American Crow eats the eggs and nestlings of many species including sparrows, robins, jays, terns, loons, and eiders. Also eats carrion and garbage. Back to top

Nesting

Nest Placement

Crows typically hide their nests in a crotch near the trunk of a tree or on a horizontal branch, generally towards the top third or quarter of the tree. They prefer to nest in evergreens, but will nest in deciduous trees when evergreens are less available.

Nest Description

Both members of a breeding pair help build the nest. Young birds from the previous year sometimes help as well. The nest is made largely of medium-sized twigs with an inner cup lined with pine needles, weeds, soft bark, or animal hair. Nest size is quite variable, typically 6-19 inches across, with an inner cup about 6-14 inches across and 4-15 inches deep.

Nesting Facts

Number of Broods:

1-2 broods

Egg Length:

1.4-1.9 in (3.6-4.7 cm)

Egg Width:

1.0-1.2 in (2.6-3.1 cm)

Incubation Period:

16-18 days

Nestling Period:

20-40 days

Egg Description:

Pale bluish-green to olive green with blotches of brown and gray toward the large end.

Condition at Hatching:

Naked except for sparse tufts of grayish down, eyes closed, clumsy.

Behavior

American Crows are highly social birds, more often seen in groups than alone. In addition to roosting and foraging in numbers, crows often stay together in year-round family groups that consist of the breeding pair and offspring from the past two years. The whole family cooperates to raise young. Winter roosts of American Crows sometimes number in the hundreds of thousands. Often admired for their intelligence, American Crows can work together, devise solutions to problems, and recognize unusual sources of food. Some people regard this resourcefulness and sociality as an annoyance when it leads to large flocks around dumpsters, landfills, and roosting sites; others are fascinated by it. American Crows work together to harass or drive off predators, a behavior known as mobbing. Back to top

Conservation

American Crows are numerous and their populations were stable between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population at 27 million, with 88% spending part of the year in the U.S., and 37% in Canada. They rate a 6 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score and are not on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. The American Crow is extremely susceptible to West Nile virus, which was introduced into North America in 1999. Virtually all crows that contract West Nile die within one week, and few seem able to survive. No other North American bird has died at the same rate from the disease, and the loss of crows in some areas has been severe. Back to top

Backyard Tips

Crows don't regularly visit feeders, but you can attract them to your backyard if you offer a mix of trees, open space, and food. Peanuts left in an open place are a good attractant. Crows are also attracted by compost, garbage, or pet food that the birds can feed on.

Find out more about what this bird likes to eat, visit the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.

Credits

Dunne, P. (2006). Pete Dunne's essential field guide companion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, USA.

Ehrlich, P. R., D. S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye (1988). The Birder's Handbook. A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds, Including All Species That Regularly Breed North of Mexico. Simon and Schuster Inc., New York, USA.

Lutmerding, J. A. and A. S. Love. (2019). Longevity records of North American birds. Version 1019 Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory 2019.

North American Bird Conservation Initiative. (2014). The State of the Birds 2014 Report. US Department of Interior, Washington, DC, USA.

Partners in Flight (2017). Avian Conservation Assessment Database. 2017.

Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, J. E. Fallon, K. L. Pardieck, Jr. Ziolkowski, D. J. and W. A. Link. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, results and analysis 1966-2013 (Version 1.30.15). USGS Patuxtent Wildlife Research Center (2014b). Available from http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

Verbeek, N. A. and C. Caffrey. (2002). American Crow ( Corvus brachyrhynchos), version 2.0. In The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.

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American Crow Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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American Crows are familiar over much of the continent: large, intelligent, all-black birds with hoarse, cawing voices. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers.

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COME HERE IF YOU WANNA LEARN ABOUT LADYBUGS!!!!!!!

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Learn how the ladybug's big appetite is a boon to many farmers. Find out the real purpose of their familiar polka-dot pattern.

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http://www.animalfactguide.com/

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Coyote wearing VHF collar in Steuben County.

Credit: Scott Smith

Coyotes are members of the Canidae family and share a lot of the same traits of their relatives: wolves, dogs, foxes and jackals. They have narrow, elongated snouts, lean bodies, yellow eyes, bushy tails and thick fur.

Known for howling at the moon, coyotes hunt at night and howl to communicate their location. They are also known for being "wily"; in fact, they are very smart creatures and have a heightened sense of hearing, smell and sight.

Coyotes are about as big as medium-size dogs, though they are smaller than wolves. They are 32 to 37 inches (81 to 94 centimeters) from head to rump, according to National Geographic. Their tail adds another 16 inches (41 cm) to their length. Coyotes typically weigh about 20 to 50 lbs. (9 to 23 kilograms).

Coyotes' fur may be gray, white, tan or brown, depending on where they live. Coyotes that live in the mountains have darker coats and ones that live in the desert have lighter coats.

Coyotes live in North America and roam the plains, forests, mountains and deserts of Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central America. Some even live in tropical climates.

As humans take over more and more countryside, coyotes are adapting to living in cities to find food. In fact, it is becoming more and more common to see coyotes in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Coyotes are solitary creatures and mark their territory with urine. When hunting deer, however, they use teamwork and form packs. They take turns pursuing the deer until it tires, or they may drive the prey toward a hidden member of the pack, according to the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web (ADW).

These hunters are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the day and hunt at night. This is why people usually only hear coyotes howling at night. Coyotes also use other noises to communicate. They use three distinct calls - a squeak, a distress call and a howl, according to the ADW.

Coyotes are not picky eaters. They eat small game such as rodents, rabbits, fish and frogs, and larger game like deer. Their diet is 90 percent mammalian.

They are typically thought to be only meat eaters, but they are actually omnivores - they eat meat and vegetation. When they aren't snacking on bigger prey, they will eat snakes, insects, fruit and grass. Coyotes have been known to kill livestock and pets, but they usually help control agricultural pests, such as rodents. In cities, coyotes will eat pet food or garbage.

Breeding season is in February and March. In the spring, females build dens in preparation for their young. Females have a gestation period of 63 days and give birth to groups of three to 12 young at once. The groups of babies are called litters and each coyote baby is called a pup. The size of the litter depends on where the coyotes live. In areas where there are a lot of coyotes, there will be smaller litters. In areas with fewer coyotes, more pups will be born.

Both the male and female participate in taking care of the pups. The male will bring food to the female and the pups and help protect them from predators.

According to the National Trappers Association, a female coyote will stay in her den with her pups until their eyes open. This can take 11 or 12 days. By fall, the pups are old enough to hunt for themselves. Coyotes are usually ready to mate at 20 to 22 months old. In the wild, coyotes live around 10 years, according to the ADW.

Coyotes can also mate with dogs. The offspring are called "coydogs." Coydogs don't have a very big population because they tend to mate and have babies during the winter, making it harder for the pups to survive. Also, males do not help the females take care of the pups, which also lead to poor survival rates.

The taxonomy of coyotes, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), is:

Canis latrans cagottis (Mexican coyote)

Canis latrans clepticus (San Pedro Martir coyote)

Canis latrans dickeyi (Salvador coyote)

Canis latrans frustror (southeastern coyote)

Canis latrans goldmani (Belize coyote)

Canis latrans hondurensis (Honduras coyote)

Canis latrans impavidus (Durango coyote)

Canis latrans incolatus (northern coyote)

Canis latrans jamesi (Tiburón coyote)

Canis latrans latrans (plains coyote)

Canis latrans lestes (mountain coyote)

Canis latrans mearnsi (Mearns coyote)

Canis latrans microdon (Lower Rio Grande coyote)

Canis latrans ochropus (California valley coyote)

Canis latrans peninsulae (peninsula coyote)

Canis latrans texensis (Texas plains coyote)

Canis latrans thamnos (northeastern coyote)

Canis latrans umpquensis (northwest coast coyote)

Canis latrans vigilis (Colima coyote)

A coyote drinks from a BLM water tank in Colorado.

Credit: Bureau of Land Management Colorado

Coyotes are not endangered. In fact, some believe that the coyote population has never been higher. Farmers and ranchers have tried controlling the population with poisons, guns and traps, but the populations are still growing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In fact, since 1861, 500,000 coyotes have been killed by the U.S. government to hamper population growth. This is a task that cost taxpayers around $30 million, according to The Educational Broadcasting Corp.

Coyotes are very quick creatures. They can run around 40 mph (64 km/h).

To distinguish the difference between coyotes and wolves, scientists looked at both species' DNA, according to the Journal of Mammalogy.

Males will travel up to 100 miles to find food when their current home is overpopulated.

Additional resources

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Coyotes are members of the Canidae family and share a lot of the same traits of their relatives: wolves, dogs, foxes and jackals. They have narrow, elongated snouts, lean bodies, yellow eyes, bushy tails and thick fur. Known for howling at the moon, coyotes hunt at night and howl to communicate their location.

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Even though there is a picture of a buffalo it is actually about water skippers

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Wildlife Guide | National Wildlife Federation

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Learn about our nation's wildlife, the threats they face, and the conservation efforts that can help.

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This is not a link to facebook. I don't know why it looks like that.

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Copyright © 2003-2016 Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation. All rights reserved.

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This is where we record our data from Bryant Woods canal and springs

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parasites on parasites

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Copyright © 2003-2016 Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation. All rights reserved.