“To claim dominance, a mountain chickadee darts or hisses at the other bird, or it’s revealed by those who hang back around a feeder,” says McCallum.

Holliday, professor emeritus at Pennsylvania’s Lafayette College, who partners with Coelho on cicada killer research, adds, “I’ve only seen female velvet ants digging in known cicada killer nesting areas, so I don’t know what they do when they go down open burrows or dig down into closed ones.”.

Photo © Jeff Bryant / Flickr Green kingfisher is more abundant in Central and South America, but the species can be located in the southwestern reaches of the United States from Arizona to Texas.

Photo © Wade Tregaskis / Flickr Each morning, before I put the kettle on or open the news to see what fresh hell awaits our pandemic-blighted world, I check on the frogmouths.

At your backyard feeder, you’re likely seeing more hawks and fewer house sparrows, plus a few new bird species.A Pack of One. Fact: You may be hearing more urban coyotes, but it’s likely not as many as you think.

Back at its display ground, a red-winged blackbird will fend off rivals of its own species at its territory, but like many birds, will also drive away just about anything that gets near.

Photo © Jim / Flickr We all know that chickens, turkeys, cows, sheep, and the like are all domesticated animals, descended from wild relatives yet altered significantly by deliberate human intervention.

Like many misunderstood and undervalued creatures in the country’s wilds, the hellbender faces innumerable threats from poisoned water to climate change.Photo © Seánín Óg / Flickr As young, small hellbenders, they live under smaller rocks with gravel allowing an increase in oxygen flow.

It is probably one of the first “nature lessons” we learned at school: earthworms have to come to the surface after rain because they’re drowning. Another common explanation for worm emergence is that rain sounds like predators, so the worms come to the surface to escape.

House sparrows are often considered one of the most adaptable birds, capable of thriving amongst our farms, suburbs and cities. The house sparrow appears to be a clear winner in the Anthropocene: an adaptable bird capable of thriving equally well on cities and in farms.

Also called American filberts (Corylus americana), wild, native hazelnuts taste like the cultivated kind, but are half the size. They taste good, especially roasted, and they’re plentiful, usually producing an annual crop of nuts.

There are two species of alligator lizard in Oregon, the northern and southern. Both species of alligator lizard regularly seek out shelter under rocks and logs, and in crevices. The three alligator lizards popping out of the beer can is undoubtedly a funny and surprising find.