American Animals Illinois and Indiana

Wildlife Of Illinois

The US state of Illinois has many wildlife refuge areas. The Driftless Area in the northwest corner of Illinois holds the tributaries of the Mississippi River and is a great place for trout and other freshwater fish. It is also part of the Mississippi Flyway and a fantastic place for birdwatchers. Another place to see wildlife is the Shawnee National Forest which contains many wilderness areas. There are also state parks and natural areas.

Official State Mammal

White-tailed deer

Official State Bird

Northern Cardinal

Official State Insect

Orange and Black Monarch Butterfly

Official State Fish

Bluegill

Official State Reptile

Painted Turtle

Official State Amphibian

Eastern Tiger Salamander

Mammals

Among the mammals in Illinois is the white-tailed deer and the bison are native to the state. About 30 bison graze on the Nachusa Grasslands.

Among larger predators are the coyote, American black bear, and the bobcat as well as red and gray foxes.

Smaller mammals are rodents like chipmunks, squirrels, deer mice, and the Norway rat.

You can also find moles, shrews, rabbits, and bats.

Birds

There are about 450 bird species in Illinois that live year-round or come to the state to breed. Many different waterfowl like seagulls.

Among birds of prey are eagles, ospreys, and owls. Owls include the Eastern screech-owl, barred owl, and snowy owl.

Snowy owl is the species that Hedwig in Harry Potter belongs to.

Among songbirds are bluejays, robins, vireos, cardinals, sparrows, crows, mockingbirds, eastern bluebirds, and starlings.

Fish

Illinois has many freshwater lakes, ponds, marshes, rivers, and streams. The fish in the state include largemouth and smallmouth bass, the bluegill, the pumpkinseed, the crappie, and the warmouth. Some common fish here are channel catfish and bullheads.

Other kinds of fish are burbots, perches, saugers, saugeyes, walleyes and the muskellunge.

The sea lamprey also make their home here and are strange-looking creatures with circles of teeth in their mouths.

Reptiles and Amphibians

Among lizards living in Illinois are skinks, legless glass lizards, fence lizards, and racerunners.

There are painted turtles, the rare Blanding's turtle, the river cooter, the ornate box turtle, and the smooth and spiny soft-shell turtles. There is also the stinkpot, a turtle that gives off a nasty-smelling musk.

Snakes in the state include garter snakes, earth snakes, rat snakes, fox snakes, kingsnakes, and water snakes. There are four venomous snakes - the copperhead, the cottonmouth, the timber rattlesnake, and the Massasauga rattler.

Among amphibians are different kinds of salamanders among them the lesser siren, which has such tiny limbs that it appears to be legless, The hellbender is also here. Frogs and toads include the American toad, the Fowler's toad, the crawfish frog, and the Eastern spadefoot. Strecker's chorus frog is a tiny frog that climbs trees and is nocturnal. There are also a lot of bullfrogs.

Insects and Other Invertebrates

The strangest of wasps in the state are the American pelecinid wasp which has an ovipositor that's longer than her body and is used to dig into the ground when looking for grubs. When a grub is found she lays an egg on it and goes on to find another grub, When the wasp larvae hatch it chews its way into the grub and then chews its way out once it has eaten the viscera. This type of wasp can also reproduce asexually and is a favorite among gardeners.

Other invertebrates found in Illinois include many species of spiders, including orb weavers and crab spiders, flies, including the bee-like tachinid fly, bees, aphids, dragonflies, ladybugs, and other beetles, ants, grasshoppers, crickets, butterflies, moths, and mosquitoes. There are ticks, mites, booklice, millipedes, centipedes and pillbugs.

Endangered Animals

The mussel Purple lilliput

Short-eared owl.

Greater prairie chicken

Pinnated grouse

Starhead topminnow

Indiana Wildlife

The US state is known as the Hoosier state and is a midwestern state that is part of the Great Lakes Region. It has many major rivers - the Ohio River, Whitewater River, and Wabash River, which is the longest river east of the Mississippi. Indiana has dense forests, grassland prairies, riverbanks, lakeshores, and rocky hills. A good part of the land is farmland but there are many wild places that are home to native wildlife.

The wildlife making their homes in the forested areas are black bears, coyotes, badgers, beavers, and cottontail rabbits.

There are rodents such as fox squirrels, gray squirrels, and groundhogs.

In the grasslands, you can see bison and white-tail deer.

The chief predators include gray foxes, red foxes, bobcats, and coyotes.

Indiana has 13 native bat species among them some of the rarest species like Rafineque'a big-eared bats, red bats, silver-haired bats, and Indiana myotis.

The state also has native species like the Allegheny woodrat and the Eastern mole.

Among the reptiles and amphibians are the alligator, snapping turtle, Blandingg's turtle, and Eastern hog-nosed snake.

In the forests and wetlands, you can see herons, ducks, geese, and other waterfowl. There are Western chorus frogs and the spring peeper.

Among small mammals are the muskrat, opossum, and raccoon.

Indiana's native birds include the ruffed grouse, wild turkey, bobwhite quail, and many different songbirds.

The state has one of the country's rarest kingfishers the belted kingfisher which is the only kingfisher found in the state.

The rivers and stream are home to the northern pike, striped bass, muskie, and walleye. Indiana is also home to the eastern hellbender which is a salamander that is one of the rarest amphibians in the world and is the largest salamander species in North America.

Indiana Dunes State Park is a protected stretch of beach along the coast of Lake Michigan, It has dunes that soar as high as 200 feet. It is a great place to see shorebirds and native flowers.

In the park, you can also see muskrats, otters, beavers, white-tailed deer, rabbits, and ducks.

Along the Wabash River, you'll find Oubache State Park with a resident herd of bison.

Tippecanoe River State Park stretches along the Tippecanoe River. Here you can see frogs, newts, squirrels, raccoons, beavers, and an enormous variety of waterfowl. Among the rarest birds spotted here is the swamp sparrow.

Chain of Lakes State Park offers nine large lakes and 25 miles of forested trails. It's a great place for fishermen with fish species like catfish, white bass, and northern pike. Among the wildlife are amphibians, reptiles, white-tail deer, bobcats, and many small rodents.

Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Area stretches between the Ohio and Wabash Rivers in southwest Indiana. The park has a lake, swampland, and forested areas, It is a great place to fish and to birdwatch, along the lakes muskrats and beavers make dams and there are many small mammals and rodents getting water at the streams.

Endangered Animals in Indiana

Barn owl

Allegheny woodrat

Eastern hellbender

Eastern mud turtle

Plains pocket gopher

Swamp rabbit

Badger

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