The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. 🐟🦆 🌱
Each year, the Whitley Awards recognize conservation leaders all around the world. Congrats to Dr. Aristide Kamla for this well-deserved recognition! Aristide graduated from our MENTOR-Manatee Program in 2018 & we’ve been celebrating his accomplishments ever since!
📷USFWS
Have you seen any snakes lately? Common garter snakes are widespread across much of the country. While these snakes are harmless to humans, they have a mild venom that may be toxic to small prey animals.
📷 courtesy of Mike Budd
“On Guard!”
Instead of spinning a web, crab spiders hide in plain sight - using camouflage to surprise their prey. With their long front legs, they are able ambush and grab insects much longer than themselves!
📷Karen Sinclair/USFWS
POV: When you went a little too hard at brunch.
Spotted seals chow down on cephalopods, crustaceans, and fishes. Pacific herring roe, anyone?
📸 Peter Pearsall/USFWS
Did you know there are 58 recognized species of lady's slipper orchids? 12 of them are found in North America! Yellow lady's slipper is widespread from Alaska through much of Canada, parts of the west and much of the midwest and east.
📷 Brandon Jones/USFWS
Coming to you this May: San Diego love triangle!
The California buckwheat has waited up to 2 years to feed the Hermes copper butterfly, but it’s still not enough. This rare butterfly prefers thorny relationships, only laying her eggs in the Spiny Redberry.
📷John Martin/USFWS
From migratory birds & butterflies to various mammals, reptiles & amphibians, North America is home to incredible wildlife! The Trilateral Committee, involving the U.S., Mexico & Canada, is working together to conserve our shared species:
📷USFWS
Let's chat about chats. Yellow-breasted chats are such a distinctive and unique species that they are the only members of their taxonomic family, Icteriidae. They can be found throughout most of the continental US.
Photo: Mick Thompson, CC BY-NC
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@USFWS
employee Benton Pang, who works on the island of O’ahu, started a Lei Day tradition - offering a lei-making workshop to fellow federal employees in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
More here:
We spotted this semipalmated plover at a waterfowl production area in Minnesota. These long-distance migrants spend winters along coastal areas, sometimes as far south as Argentina. Their summer breeding grounds are across Alaska and much of northern Canada.
📷 Mike Budd/USFWS
Peony for your thoughts – Who do you think pollinates this California Peony?
A spring bloomer with deep red, leathery flowers, this unique plant only occurs in southwest California and is one of two species of Peony native to North America.
📷Karen Sinclair/USFWS