Furbish’s Lousewort
Rediscovered after decades of presumed extinction, this rare wildflower lives only on naturally eroding banks of the upper Saint John River.
Canada: places and wildlife — page 2
Browse the published Explore collection for Canada. Open a discovery for its field guide, practical details, and background.
Willow Ptarmigan
Feathered feet, seasonal white plumage, and a taste for willow let this Arctic grouse remain active through Alaska’s long winter.
California Gull
Utah’s state bird is an inland gull whose vast Great Salt Lake gatherings connect nesting islands, farm fields, wetlands, and migration routes.
American White Pelican
One of North America’s largest birds nests on remote Great Salt Lake islands and travels astonishing distances to feed in freshwater wetlands.
Golden Eagle
Utah’s state bird of prey is a powerful open-country eagle most often discovered as a dark, steady shape circling over cliffs and basins.
Two-tailed Swallowtail
Arizona’s enormous yellow state butterfly patrols canyon streams and gardens, flashing black tiger stripes and two tails on each hindwing.
Greater Sage-Grouse
At dawn, males turn a quiet sagebrush flat into a popping, swishing arena—a display sustained by much more habitat than the lek itself reveals.
Mountain Bluebird
Idaho’s state bird flashes an almost unbroken blue across open mountain and sage country, often hovering briefly before dropping onto ground prey.
Kootenai River White Sturgeon
A landlocked population of ancient white sturgeon persists in the Kootenai basin, where altered flow and recruitment failure made human-assisted recovery essential.
Western White Pine
Idaho’s state tree once dominated vast northern forests, and its five-needle sprays now tell a story of blister-rust loss, selective breeding, and restoration.
Meltwater Lednian Stonefly
A tiny stonefly living in Glacier’s coldest headwater streams makes melting ice and rising water temperature measurable as habitat, not abstraction.
Western Glacier Stonefly
Known only from the Glacier–Waterton high country, this cold-water specialist survives where ice, snow, springs, and shaded alpine channels hold summer temperatures down.
Bitterroot
Montana’s state flower hides a surprising strategy: succulent leaves gather early moisture, disappear, and leave luminous pink blossoms seemingly resting on bare stony ground.
Lake Erie Watersnake
This nonvenomous, often nearly patternless watersnake lives on the limestone islands of western Lake Erie, where invasive round gobies transformed most of its diet and helped fuel a celebrated recovery.
Lakeside Daisy
A rare Great Lakes endemic can turn nearly barren alvar gold for a single synchronized week, surviving in thin soil over limestone where few flowering plants tolerate heat, wind, and drought.
Kirtland’s Warbler
A once-endangered warbler depends on large, carefully managed young jack-pine landscapes where males sing low among dense living branches.
Great Lakes Piping Plover
A palm-sized shorebird nests almost invisibly on Great Lakes beaches, where one footprint, loose dog, or sudden water rise can matter.
Dwarf Lake Iris
Michigan’s state wildflower forms low colonies on cool limestone-influenced shores, where a blue bloom can sit only inches above the ground.
Houghton’s Goldenrod
A globally rare goldenrod concentrates around the Straits and northern Great Lakes, where limestone shore and changing water levels maintain open habitat.
Hungerford’s Crawling Water Beetle
A federally endangered beetle smaller than a grain of rice survives in a few cold northern streams, mostly within Michigan.
Lake Huron Locust
A Great Lakes endemic grasshopper vanishes against pale dune sand until a short flight flashes color above the upper beach.
Lake Sturgeon
An armor-plated fish can live for more than a century, migrating from Lake Winnebago into rocky rivers for a brief, spectacular spring spawn.
Common Loon
Minnesota’s state bird is a superb underwater hunter whose haunting calls carry across northern lakes—but whose nest can fail after one careless wake.
Golden-winged Warbler
This crisp gray-and-gold migrant thrives not in deep forest or open field, but in the shifting edge between them—a habitat easy to erase by accident.
Walleye
Minnesota’s state fish is a low-light predator whose famous eyes, seasonal movements, and lake-by-lake management make it more interesting than a dinner plate.
Rusty Patched Bumble Bee
A once-common Upper Midwest pollinator now survives in scattered strongholds, including the Twin Cities, where an ordinary garden can become consequential habitat.
Baltimore checkerspot
Black wings checked with cream and orange identify a wet-meadow butterfly whose official status contrasts with its rarity in Maryland.
Baltimore oriole
Maryland’s orange-and-black state bird whistles from leafy edges and suspends a woven pouch nest near a branch tip.
Atlantic blue crab
Paddle-shaped rear legs, blue claws, and a life tied to brackish Chesapeake water distinguish Maryland’s state crustacean.
Striped bass
Seven or eight continuous dark stripes mark a silvery predator that uses tidal rivers as nurseries and the coast as a highway.
Black-eyed Susan
Rough-haired stems and golden rays around a raised brown center make Maryland’s state flower a familiar open-ground wildflower.
White oak
Maryland’s state tree supports insects and wildlife; rounded leaf lobes and pale bark reward a slower look in mature woodland.
Brook Trout
Follow this jewel-colored char from shaded headwaters to Adirondack ponds, where water quality shapes its future.
Common Snapping Turtle
A rugged freshwater turtle is easiest to notice when it leaves the water to nest, not while it lies hidden below.
Nine-spotted Lady Beetle
New York's state insect once seemed ordinary; finding its precise pattern now demands care and a little luck.
Sugar Maple
Recognize New York's state tree by more than its color: bark, paired buds, and leaf shape tell the whole story.