I'm known for my ability to mimic. I can acquire an extensive vocabulary of words and can imitate the sounds around me.
I have a short square red tail, a very large area of bare skin surrounding my eyes and gray feathers.
My diet consists of seeds, fruits, berries and nuts. Palm nuts are my favorite food.
52-2. Roadrunner-
I can fly but prefer to race over the ground at 25 MPH.
I hunt snakes, lizards, insects and small mammals which I kill by pounding with my heavy bill, then I swallow my prey head first.
I build my nest above ground in thorny plants.
52-3. Sun bear-
I have sleek, short, dark fur. I get my name from the yellowish crescent on my chest.
I eat small rodents, lizards, small birds, termites, bees and earthworms and the large bud on the top of the coconut palm.
I am the smallest of the bears.
52-4. Spotted leopard
I am an adept tree climber, often dragging my large prey up out of the reach of scavengers. I hunt alone.
As an adult, I can weigh between 66 and 155 pounds.
I am average among the large cats, slender and delicate compared to the jaguar but sturdy and stolid compared with the cheetah.
52-5. Chevrotain
I am a small, shy, secretive creature without horns or antlers. My nickname is mouse deer.
I am important prey for crocodiles, cats, and big snakes such as pythons.
Males of my species have continually growing upper canine teeth.
52-6. Musk ox
My coat has dark brown guard hairs that hang down like a skirt, shedding moisture.
An inner coat of fine, soft light brown hair is so dense, that cold can't penetrate it.
The only species that bunch into a circle with our calves inside when threatened. This wall of horns facing out is a good defense against wolves.
52-7. Wolverine
The Native Americans called me skunk bear.
I am a fierce hunter for my size.
Over soft deep snow my large feet enable me to catch my caribou prey, which is handicapped by its heavier weight.
52-8. Arctic Fox
I have short rounded ears, a luxurious coat, and long hairs on the soles of my feet.
My coat is white in the winter and brown in the summer.
On the frozen ice packs I often scavenge the kills of polar bears & wolves. I also hunt lemmings.
52-9. Gibbon
I live in a small family group in our own territory. From our vantage point we can see much with our binocular vision.
My name means dweller in trees.
Often I travel swinging from branch to branch, using my hands as hooks. My arm span is about seven feet.
52-10. North American Beaver
Few wild animals have had as much influence on world exploration, history and economics as me.
The trade of my fur stimulated exploration of the new world. My fur pelt was used as money in colonial times.
I am the second heaviest rodent in the world. I have a torpedo shaped body, which helps me swim.
52-11. Hornbill
My bill is long and down curved.
The casque atop my bill helps to amplify my call and helps other birds of my kind recognize my age, sex and species. I am an important seed disperser.
The female of my species seals herself inside her nest hole and breaks out of her nest when the chicks are half grown, helping to feed them.
52-12. Flamingo
I have a long legs for wading, a long neck and small head.
I hold my bill upside down to feed by filtering food from the water and the mud.
My bright pink feathers are the result of the carotenoid pigment (similar to the pigment in carrots) found in the algae that I eat.
52-13. Orangutan
I am a large, red orange, long haired animal.
I swing on long arms, grasping branches by my hook-like hands and feet, searching for fruit, my favorite food.
The male of my species is impressive because of his size, cheek flaps and throat pouch.
52-14. Camel
I can go for a long time without water.
I make an important contribution to the survival of humans in arid environments.
When I do drink water I can consume 30 gallons within a short time.
52-15. Sloth
I have hands and feet which end in long, curved claws. Moths lay eggs in my hair. I spend much of my time hanging upside down.
I move very slowly, finding leaves to eat. As an adult, I weigh about 8-17 pounds.
My coat is tinged with green because of the blue green algae that grows on my hair. Caterpillars like to feed on the algae.
52-16. North American Porcupine
I am a heavy bodied animal, but I am an excellent climber with well developed claws and unfurred soles on large feet.
I climb very high in search of twigs, berries, leaves and nuts which I eat.
My body covering is my main defense. Not many animals will try to eat me. The fisher is my most adept predator.
52-18.Tapir
I have a large, stout body effective for pushing through dense vegetation.
I am an excellent swimmer, sometimes walking on the bottom of ponds nibbling on plants.
My half black, half white body coloration breaks up my body outline so predators can't see me easily.
52-19. Fishing Cat
I often wade in shallow water. I do not hesitate to swim in deep water. I catch fish by crouching on a rock or sand bank.
I use my paw as a scoop. My fore feet have some webbing between the toes. My claws do not retract completely.
Being a small cat, I also prey on small mammals, birds and insects.
52-20. Slow Loris
I am a slow mover and can freeze "chameleon-like" for hours. This behavior helps me to hide against a leafy background.
My name means "clown" in the Dutch language. I have very large eyes in proportion to my head.
My undeveloped opposable thumb gives me an astonishingly powerful grip which can be maintained for long periods. It can be up to 16 inches long.
52-21. Tree Shrew
I am a small mammal with a long body and long tail. I scurry about feeding on a variety of small animal prey, especially insects.
I prefer to catch food with my snout. I am squirrel-like.
Living in the trees and on the forest floor, I also eat fruit, seeds and other vegetation.
52-22. Flying Fox Fruit Bat
My main food is fruit juice which I obtain by squeezing pieces of the fruit pulp in my mouth. I swallow the juice and spit out the pulp and seeds.
I usually roost in large numbers. At dusk, I fly to fruit trees to feed.
I am one of the largest of my kind. I have a fox-like face.
52-23. Silky Anteater
Silk cotton trees produce seeds in large balls of soft, silverish fibers that help camouflage me from owls, harpy eagles and other predators.
I am squirrel sized, nocturnal and live in trees. I especially like to eat ants that live in vines and tree branches.
I have a strong prehensile tail, a long snout and sticky tongue.
52-25.Snow Goose
I am a medium sized bird that lives on water. My feet and bill are pink.
My call sounds like a loud, nasal high pitched bark. I have two color phases; blue or white.
I was the inspiration for a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale.
52-26. Stingray
I got my name because of the one or more spines on the dorsal side of my tail. My venom is very painful but rarely fatal to humans.
I am often found on the bottom of the sea. I measure up to thirteen feet in diameter.
My enlarged pectoral fins are often called wings because of their graceful up and down movements in swimming.
52-27.Wrasse
A number of my species have an unusual "cleaning" relationship with other fishes. They remove parasites and clean wounds or debris.
I have well developed incisor teeth that protrude like a pair of forceps from my mouth.
I have a long slender body. My dorsal fin is elongated. I have fleshy lips.
52-30. Puffer fish
I can increase my weight up to four times when alarmed. I am poisonous.
I get my name from having my body covered in spines which rise from their normal flat position when I inflate my body to defend against predators.
I have powerful jaws and a strange beak-like mouth. I am not a fast swimmer.
52-31. Water monitor
I have a flattened tail for swimming and nostrils at the tip of my snout so I can breathe when almost completely submerged.
I am also known as a land crocodile. I am known for my aggressiveness and large size (up to nine feet). Like snakes, I swallow my prey whole, rather than chew it.
I am a staple in the diet of many people. I am served stewed, fried, grilled, boiled, smoked or curried. My skin is used for belts, shoes, handbags and wallets.
52-32. Komodo Dragon
I have a stout, somewhat flattened body, long thick neck, and longish head. My tongue is long and deeply forked.
I am the largest living lizard, found on only a few Indonesian islands.
My diet may include deer, pigs and monkeys. I can consume a pig in less than 8 minutes.
52-33. Gila Monster
I bite and hold with my teeth and hang on with a vise like grip. I spend long periods of time in my burrow, coming out after periods of rain mainly at night.
Only two out of about 3000 kinds of lizards are poisonous. My poison can cause loss of consciousness, vomiting, dizziness, or labored breathing. I live in the sand.
I can store surplus fat in my unusually thick tail. I am up to 23 inches long and weigh up to three and one fourth pounds.
52-34.Poison Arrow Frog
Bright colors give other animals warning of my poison so predators avoid me. I am very small, no larger than the mouse of your computer!
The males carry the young on their backs to pools of water in bromeliads high in the trees. I feed on insects.
Indians collect poison from our bodies, to make their arrow heads more deadly. I am one of the few kinds of frogs that secretes a rapid death poison.
52-36. Seastar
I have a small central body, with a toothless mouth on the underside.
My body covering of plates provides me with armor, since each plate bears granules or spines. I have an internal water system of fluid filled canals.
The number of arms radiating from my center may range from 4 to 50, though five arms are more typical. If I lose an arm, I can grow another.
52-37. Anemone
I come in many beautiful colors. Though I am an animal, I look like a flower.
I have tentacles armed with stinging cells which can paralyze and hold prey. I can also use my tentacles for defense.
I have little or no mobility. I sometimes live in a colony.
52-38. Python
I am often found near water. I have no legs but am a good climber.
I can be 20 to 30 feet long and weigh as much as 200 pounds.
I kill my prey by constriction.
52-39. Sidewinder
I am usually found where there is loose, wind blown sand. My unusual looping movement allows me to get a grip on the sand so I can move faster.
I can move up to two miles per hour. The "tracks" or traces that I leave behind look like a series of parallel bars in the sand.
I am a small, squat rattlesnake.
52-40. Parrotfish
My mouth is like a strong "beak" formed by the fusion of front teeth. I have brilliant coloration. I nibble on coral, breaking it down into sand.
At night I surround myself with a secreted, transparent covering of mucus.
I have large grinding teeth in the throat which chew the coral to extract food. I also feed on mollusks, crustaceans, sea urchins and algae.
52-42.Angelfish
On each side of my head I have a spine that is turned backward. My snout does not protrude. I have a long, compressed body.
The soft portion of my dorsal fin often juts out like a streamer or banner.
Some of my kind can be 14 inches long. I am solitary. I eat sponges.
52-43. Butterflyfish
My jaws carry numerous teeth that are thin and almost bristle-like. My body is short, crosswise and tall, compressed and sometimes disk-shaped.
My profile is accentuated by my dorsal and anal fins. My snout may be long. My small protruding mouth helps to find food in nooks and crannies.
I confuse predators by swimming backwards. I may have false eye spots near my tails base. My real eyes are often disguised by a stripe running through them.
52-45. Moray Eel
With most of my body hidden in a crevice, I poke my head out to see if danger threatens or prey is about. I am a territorial carnivore.
My blood contains a poison that can be dangerous, but is quickly destroyed by cooking. My dorsal fin runs almost the length of my body.
My teeth are adapted for holding small prey. I can reach lengths of 3 1/4 feet.
52-46. Snowy Owl
I nest in the open usually on a slight rise of ground that gives me a vantage point to watch the surrounding country. I am a daylight hunter.
I fly fast enough to catch and kill ducks on the wing. My main prey is lemmings and hares.
I am a silent flyer. My coloring allows me to blend in with my background.
52-47. Pileated Woodpecker
I am a black and white, crow- sized animal with a large red crest. My call is loud.
I make rectangle shaped excavations on tree trunks.
I was the inspiration for a cartoon character.
52-48. Victoria Crowned Pigeon
Ranging from 26 to 33 inches in length. I feed on the ground but take refuge in the trees when disturbed.
I have a large fan shaped crest of erect, lacy feathers.
I am a giant among pigeons.
52-49.Tundra Swan
There is usually a small yellow spot at the base of my upper bill. I hold my neck straight up. I am considered to be large in size.
I am a large, all white waterfowl with a black bill. I have a mellow rich, bulging call, usually heard when I migrate in a large flock.
Many of us winter in Chesapeake Bay. Sometimes I am mistaken for the Trumpeter Swan.
52-50. False Gavial
I am found in the water more than others in my family. I eat small fishes which I grab with a sideways snap of my jaws.
The slenderness of my snout allows quick movement sideways. I am not dangerous to people.
I am a large, aquatic reptile.
52-51. Great Horned Owl
I do most of my hunting at night. I am one of the few predators that hunt skunks.
I am called the tiger of the air.
I am one of the larger owls, being over two feet in length with ear-like tuffs of feathers on my head and large yellow eyes.
52-52. Mandarin Duck
I live near small fresh water ponds and lakes in eastern Asia and Japan. I nest in holes in trees.
My call is a peculiar whistling note. I am one of the most strikingly colorful of all of the waterfowl.
I am closely related to the woodduck of North America. I am often depicted in oriental art.
52-53. Common Loon
I have been known to dive 200 feet. When on land I move one foot at a time, shuffling along with my body close to the ground or flop forward.
My average foot size is five inches long & three inches wide. Large feet move me rapidly through the water & help keep me from getting too hot or cold.
I am a goose sized salt & fresh waterfowl known for my call - a far carrying wail heard on my northern breeding grounds. Another call sounds like a wild laugh.
52-54. Grey Fox
I frequently climb trees. I eat more plant materials than others of my kind. My diet includes fruits, grains, insects and small vertebrates.
Like other members of the dog family I communicate by means of sound as well as scent marking and postures.
I hunt alone for small prey.
52-55. White-Tailed Deer
My tail is brown above but white below and on the sides. I flag my tail when danger threatens.
I flee from danger with a series of bounds. My feet have two big toes with curved hooves. My toes may spread - or stay close together, making heart like footprints.
My young are born well camouflaged with spots. Males lose their antlers every year.
52-57. Fisher
My head, neck, shoulders & upper back are dark brown to black. My underparts are brown. My body is slender, but stocky. I have been trapped for my fur.
I am a member of the weasel family. I am a good climber.
I am the most effective predator of porcupines, which I kill by repeatedly circling and biting at the face.
52-58. Least Weasel
My slender body allows me to enter and move quickly through the burrows of my prey. I sometimes attack animals larger than myself.
In summer my back flanks and outer sides of my legs are brown, my underparts are white. In winter, my coat is white except for my tail tip, which stays black.
I can easily run over the snow. If chased, I can dive into the snow and "swim" beneath it.
52-59. Chipmunk
I have openings within the sides of my mouth which lead to pouches where I carry food. Each filled pouch is almost as large as my head. I hold my tail erect.
During the winter, I live off the stored food. I am not a deep winter hibernator, but retire to my burrow in October or November.
I am small and have distinctive stripes along my back.
52-60. Skunk
I am in between weasels and badgers in build. I am mostly nocturnal. I have a very effective defense against predators.
Because of my warning coloration, many predators avoid me. Great horned owls will eat me.
I have distinctive black and white colors.
52-62. Coyote
I am the fastest member of the dog family running at speeds in excess of 25 MPH.
Each evening I begin with yips & work up to howls. Our group chorus can be heard for miles. I use keen senses to hunt rabbits, fruits & berries.
I am one of the few North American mammals that have expanded our range in the last 100 years.
52-63. Bighorned Sheep
I am a social animal living in a herd. Males have massive spiral horns. The one with the biggest horns leads. My species is alert & has remarkable eyesight.
I am an excellent climber. I live near rocky cliffs and bluffs. When alarmed, I bound away with surprising speed and agility.
In a struggle for dominance, two males push and shove one another, rear up on hind legs & lunge forward & down, crashing horns together.
52-64. Ostrich
Like a periscope, my long neck and sharp vision help me to see enemies from which I flee at freeway speed of 40-60MPH.
I am the largest living bird. My head, neck and legs are almost bare so I can radiate heat quickly when my temperature rises.
I stand 8 feet tall and weigh up to 300 pounds.
52-65.Toco Toucan
I am one of the nosiest creatures in my habitat. My harsh cries carry a half mile or more.
My canoe-shaped bill is almost as big as my body. It is an efficient fruit picking tool. I am crow-sized.
We fence with each other with our bills & toss berries into the air at one another or pass them along from bill to bill. My nickname is Fruit Loop bird.
52-67. Leaf Cutter Ant
I live in a huge underground nest with many entrances. There may be between one and two and a half million individuals per colony.
I bite off pieces of leaves & bring them back to my nest. I chew the leaves into wet mush. The mush is used to grow a mushroom-like fungus for food.
We are the most important defoliating insect of crops in our biome.
52-68.Tarantula
My size allows me to tackle small reptiles, birds, & mammals as well as insect prey.
I live under stones, bark, and leaves and hunt at night. I have eight legs.
I am the largest living spider. My body is three and one half inches long with a leg span of ten inches.
52-69. Morpho Butterfly
Adults species are fluid feeders. We sip small quantities of nectar. Aircraft pilots flying far overhead have noticed our flashing iridescent blue wings.
I rival or even surpass birds with my bright, flamboyant wing patterns.
My iridescence is produced by transparent, strongly reflecting scales, not by pigments. I am a quick, adept flyer, difficult to catch.
52-70. Macaw
I am one of the largest of my kind. When fully developed my tail alone is more than two feet long. I have vivid plumage.
Two of my toes point forward & two point to the rear, enabling me a vice-like grip on branches. I use my hooked bill for cracking nuts.
My intelligence, learning capacity and memory are remarkable. I have a loud voice and can be very noisy.
