The fauna of Louisiana is characterized by the region's low swamplands,
bayous
In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...
, creeks, woodlands, coastal marshlands and beaches, and
barrier islands
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a ...
covering an estimated , corresponding to 40 percent of Louisiana's total land area. Southern Louisiana contains up to fifty percent of the wetlands found in the
Continental United States
The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
, and are made up of countless bayous and creeks.
The Creole State has a humid subtropical climate, perhaps the best example of a humid subtropical climate of all the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
with long, humid and hot summers and short, mild winters. The subtropical characteristics of the state are due in large part to the influence of the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
, which at its farthest point is no more than away. Louisiana's varied habitats — tidal marshes, bayous, swamps, woodlands, islands, forests, and prairies — offer a diversity of wildlife.
Some of the most common animals found throughout all of the parishes include otter, deer, mink, muskrat, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels,
nutria
The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent.
Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of t ...
, turtles, alligators,
woodcocks
The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...
, skunks, foxes, beavers, ringtails, armadillos, coyotes and bobcats. Deer, squirrel, rabbit, and bear are hunted as game, while muskrat, snakes, nutria, mink, opossum, bobcat, and skunk are commercially significant for fur. Prized game birds include quail, turkey, woodcock, and various waterfowl, of which the mottled duck and wood duck are native. There are several endemic plants and animals in Louisiana that are found nowhere else on Earth; an example could be the Louisiana bluestar or the white
leucistic
Leucism () is a wide variety of conditions that result in the partial loss of pigmentation in an animal—causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. It is occasionally spelled ' ...
alligator. The
Pearl River map turtle
The Pearl River map turtle (''Graptemys pearlensis'') is a species of emydid turtle native to the southern United States. According to a study done in January 2017, the species ''G. pearlensis'' was significantly less abundant in the Pearl River ...
and the
ringed map turtle
The ringed map turtle or ringed sawback (''Graptemys oculifera'') is a species of turtle in the family Emydidae endemic to the southern United States.
Geographic range
It is frequently found in the Pearl River system in Louisiana and Mississip ...
are only found in Louisiana and neighboring
State of Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...
.
Louisiana contains a number of areas which are, in varying degrees, protected from human intervention. In addition to
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
sites and areas and the
Kisatchie National Forest
Kisatchie National Forest, the only National forest in Louisiana, United States, is located in the forested piney hills and hardwood bottoms of seven central and northern parishes. It is part of the Cenozoic uplands (some of Louisiana's olde ...
, Louisiana operates a system of state parks, state historic sites, one state preservation area, one state forest, and many
Wildlife Management Area
A Wildlife Management Area (WMA) is a protected area set aside for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife.
New Zealand
There are 11 Wildlife Management Areas in New Zealand:
* Horsham Downs Wildlife Ma ...
s. The
Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US.
Founded in 1951, The Natu ...
also owns and manages a set of natural areas.
State ecology
Much of the state's lands were formed from sediment washed down the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. The northern parts of Louisiana mostly consist of woodlands which are home to deer, squirrels, rabbits, bears, muskrats, mink, opossums, bobcats, and skunks. Louisiana's forests offer a mix of oak, pine, beech, black walnut, and cypress trees. In the
Piney Woods
The Piney Woods is a temperate coniferous forest terrestrial ecoregion in the Southern United States covering of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. These coniferous forests are dominated by several spec ...
in the
Ark-La-Tex
The Ark-La-Tex (a portmanteau of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; also stylized as Arklatex or ArkLaTex) is a socio-economic tri-state region where the Southern U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas join together. The region contains por ...
-region, mammals such as the
North American cougar
The North American cougar (''Puma concolor couguar'') is a cougar subspecies in North America. It was once common in eastern North America, and is still prevalent in the western half of the continent. This subspecies includes populations in weste ...
,
gray fox
The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littora ...
,
feral hog
The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids.
Definition
A feral pi ...
s (
razorback
The feral pig is a domestic pig which has gone feral, meaning it lives in the wild. They are found mostly in the Americas and Australia. Razorback and wild hog are Americanisms applied to feral pigs or boar-pig hybrids.
Definition
A feral pi ...
), and snakes such as the
western cottonmouth
The western cottonmouth (''Agkistrodon piscivorus leucostoma'')Conant R. 1975. ''A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America''. Second Edition. First published in 1958. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston. 429 pp. 48 ...
, the
western worm snake
''Carphophis vermis'' (common name western worm snake) is a species of small, nonvenomous colubrid snake native to the United States.
Etymology
The specific name, ''vermis'', is Latin for "worm".
Physical description
Western worm snakes have ...
, the
Louisiana pine snake
The Louisiana pine snake (''Pituophis ruthveni'') is a species of large, non-venomous, constrictor in the family Colubridae. This powerful snake is notable because of its large eggs and small clutch sizes. The Louisiana pine snake is indige ...
, as well as other animals are common.
Louisiana's largest forest, the
Kisatchie National Forest
Kisatchie National Forest, the only National forest in Louisiana, United States, is located in the forested piney hills and hardwood bottoms of seven central and northern parishes. It is part of the Cenozoic uplands (some of Louisiana's olde ...
in the forested hills of
Central Louisiana
Central Louisiana (Cenla), also known as the Crossroads, is a region of the U.S. state of Louisiana.
The largest communities in the region as of the 2010 Census were Alexandria (47,893), Natchitoches (18,323) and Pineville (14,555).
Central ...
, has 155 species of breeding birds, 48 mammal species, 56 reptile species and 30 amphibian species. It is some in area, more than half of which is vital flatwoods vegetation, which supports many rare plant and animal species. These include for instance the
Louisiana pine snake
The Louisiana pine snake (''Pituophis ruthveni'') is a species of large, non-venomous, constrictor in the family Colubridae. This powerful snake is notable because of its large eggs and small clutch sizes. The Louisiana pine snake is indige ...
, the
red-cockaded woodpecker
The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States.
Description
The red-cockaded woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two ...
, the Louisiana black bear and the Louisiana pearlshell.
Alligators are common in Louisiana's extensive swamps, bogs, creeks, lakes, rivers, wetlands, and bayous. Other water-loving reptiles such as the
alligator snapping turtle
The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. ''M. temminckii'' is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in ...
live in the Louisiana swamps. The alligator snapping turtle is characterized by a very large head and three rows of spiked
scute
A scute or scutum (Latin: ''scutum''; plural: ''scuta'' "shield") is a bony external plate or scale overlaid with horn, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds. The term is also used to describe the anterior po ...
s. These
wetlands of Louisiana
The wetlands of Louisiana are water-saturated coastal and swamp regions of southern Louisiana, often called 'Bayou'.
The Louisiana coastal zone stretches from the border of Texas to the Mississippi line and comprises two wetland-dominated ecosyste ...
make ideal homes for several species of turtles, crawfish and catfish - all of which are popular
Acadian
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
foods.
Among invasive species that thrive in the wetlands of Louisiana is the nutria, a South American rodent that was likely introduced when individual animals escaped from fur farms.
Mammals
Forty species of mammals reside in Louisiana, excluding marine mammals. Seventy mammal species have been recorded in Louisiana or its immediate adjacent waters.Taxonomic groups /ref> Louisiana has, for instance, two species of squirrels:
eastern gray squirrel
The eastern gray squirrel (''Sciurus carolinensis''), also known, particularly outside of North America, as simply the grey squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus''. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodi ...
s and
fox squirrels
The fox squirrel (''Sciurus niger''), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. Despite the differences in size and coloration, it is sometimes mistaken for A ...
, according to the
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge.
Mission
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife a ...
.
Louisiana has two species of rabbits:
eastern cottontail
The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America.
Distribution
The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubby ...
s and
swamp rabbit
The swamp rabbit (''Sylvilagus aquaticus''), also called the cane-cutter, is a large cottontail rabbit found in the swamps and wetlands of the southern United States. The species has a strong preference for wet areas, and it will take to the wate ...
s. Although the cottontail is considered more of an upland species and the swamp rabbit a wetland species, both species occur throughout the state. Rabbits have high productive rates in Louisiana when habitat and weather conditions are good.
Louisiana black bear
The Louisiana black bear once ranged throughout the State of Louisiana and parts of adjacent neighboring
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
, and
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The black bear was common at the time of early colonization, serving as food for Native Americans for generations.
An 1890 record shows 17 parishes containing bears, all of them by the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
-border and the Atchafalaya region. It was reported that the most extensive areas of bottomland hardwoods in the state have "at least a few bears", with the greatest number found in the denser woodlands along the Tensas,
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
,
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, and
Atchafalaya River
The Atchafalaya River ( french: La Rivière Atchafalaya, es, Río Atchafalaya) is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and ...
s. In the late 1950s, bears occupied habitat in the Tensas-
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
area in northeast Louisiana and in the lower fringes of the
Atchafalaya Basin
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp (; Louisiana French: ''L'Atchafalaya'', ), is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atc ...
.
Today, black bears can be found in all of Louisiana, but according to the
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge.
Mission
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife a ...
, most black bears are observed in a confined region made up of the following parishes:
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
Franklin
Franklin may refer to:
People
* Franklin (given name)
* Franklin (surname)
* Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class
Places Australia
* Franklin, Tasmania, a township
* Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...
,
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
Avoyelles
Avoyelles (french: Paroisse des Avoyelles) is a parish (administrative division), parish located in central eastern Louisiana on the Red River of the South,
Red River where it effectively becomes the Atchafalaya River and meets the Mississippi ...
,
Pointe Coupee
Pointe Coupee Parish ( or ; french: Paroisse de la Pointe-Coupée) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 22,802; in 2020, its population was 20,758. The parish seat is New Roads.
Pointe ...
Vermilion
Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...
,
Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
St. Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
.
Black bear could be legally hunted in parts of Louisiana through the late 1980s. One of the last organized bear hunts in Louisiana occurred December 15, 1955. During this hunt, five bears were harvested in the Lake Providence area. It was recommended to the Wildlife Commission that the bear season be closed. Bear hunting was closed the following season and remained closed until 1961. The season was opened again from 1962 to 1965 with hunting permitted only in northeast Louisiana and in the coastal parishes. The hunting season was again closed from 1966 to 1974. It was reopened in 1975–1987 with hunting restricted to the
Atchafalaya Basin
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp (; Louisiana French: ''L'Atchafalaya'', ), is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atc ...
.Bear conservation Start /ref>
The Louisiana bear hunting season has remained closed since 1988. From 1964 through 1967, 161 black bears were live-trapped in
Cook County, Minnesota
Cook County is the easternmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 5,600, making it Minnesota's seventh-least populous county. Its county seat is Gr ...
and released in the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
and
Atchafalaya River
The Atchafalaya River ( french: La Rivière Atchafalaya, es, Río Atchafalaya) is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River in south central Louisiana in the United States. It flows south, just west of the Mississippi River, and ...
bottoms of Louisiana in an effort to restock black bear to the state. By 1968 there was evidence that the translocated bears were reproducing. However, most of the relocated bears were killed on roads, as nuisance animals, or during recapture.
As of 2016, Louisiana black bears are no longer endangered.
American alligator
The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the g ...
has bounced back from near extinction to being relatively commonplace. An abundance of snake species make their home in Louisiana, including the
eastern diamondback rattlesnake
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake (''Crotalus adamanteus'') is a species of pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the heaviest venomous snakes in the Americas and the largest ...
,
Texas coral snake
''Micrurus tener'', commonly known as the Texas coral snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to the southern United States and northeastern and central Mexico. Five subspecies are recognized as bein ...
,
eastern yellowbelly racer
''Coluber constrictor flaviventris'', commonly known as the eastern yellow-bellied racer, is a subspecies of the eastern racer, non-venomous colubrid snake. It is endemic to North America.
Description
The eastern yellow-bellied racer is a thi ...
,
mud snake
The mud snake (''Farancia abacura'') is a species of nonvenomous, semiaquatic, colubrid snake endemic to the southeastern United States.
Description
The mud snake usually grows to a total length (including tail) of 40 to 54 inches (1-1.4 m),M ...
cottonmouth
''Agkistrodon piscivorus'' is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the southeastern United States. As ...
pit viper
The Crotalinae, commonly known as pit vipers,Mehrtens JM (1987). ''Living Snakes of the World in Color''. New York: Sterling Publishers. 480 pp. . crotaline snakes (from grc, κρόταλον ''krotalon'' castanet), or pit adders, are a subfa ...
s and
kingsnake
Kingsnakes are Colubridae, colubrid New World members of the genus ''Lampropeltis'', which includes 26 species. Among these, about 45 subspecies are recognized. They are nonvenomous and ophiophagy, ophiophagous in diet.
Description
Kingsnakes ...
.
America's largest freshwater turtle, the
alligator snapping turtle
The alligator snapping turtle (''Macrochelys temminckii'') is a large species of turtle in the family Chelydridae. The species is native to freshwater habitats in the United States. ''M. temminckii'' is one of the heaviest freshwater turtles in ...
, shares the habitat with its cousin, the
common snapping turtle
The common snapping turtle (''Chelydra serpentina'') is a species of large freshwater turtle in the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia ...
. The green American chameleon also lives in the wetlands, along with the lizard-like
tiger salamander
The tiger salamander (''Ambystoma tigrinum'') is a species of mole salamander and one of the largest terrestrial salamanders in North America.
Description
These salamanders usually grow to a length of with a lifespan of around 12–15 years. ...
, which is an amphibian. Other examples of reptiles in Louisiana are the
gopher tortoise
The gopher tortoise (''Gopherus polyphemus'') is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native to the southeastern United States. The gopher tortoise is seen as a keystone species because it digs burrows that provide ...
,
razor-backed musk turtle
The razor-backed musk turtle (''Sternotherus carinatus'') is a species of turtle in the family Kinosternidae. The species is native to the southern United States. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid."''Sternotherus carinat ...
,
broad-headed skink
The broad-headed skink or broadhead skink (''Plestiodon laticeps'') is species of lizard, endemic to the southeastern United States. The broadhead skink occurs in sympatry with the five-lined skink (''Plestiodon fasciatus'') and Southeastern f ...
,
coal skink
''Plestiodon anthracinus'', the coal skink, is a species of lizard which is endemic to North America.
Description
It grows to in total length with a maximum snout to vent length (SVL) of . It is a four-lined skink whose light stripes extend ...
and the
slender glass lizard
The slender glass lizard (''Ophisaurus attenuatus'') is a legless lizard in the Glass Lizard subfamily (Anguinae) The species is endemic to the United States. Two subspecies are recognized. The lizard was originally believed to be a subspecies ...
.
According to the Louisiana Alligator Council, there are over one million alligators in the state in 2014 and the number is continuously increasing. Alligators like swamps, rivers, lakes or wherever they can have an adequate habitat. Louisiana has several varieties of venomous snakes. The eastern coral snake,
Texas coral snake
''Micrurus tener'', commonly known as the Texas coral snake, is a species of venomous snake in the family Elapidae. The species is endemic to the southern United States and northeastern and central Mexico. Five subspecies are recognized as bein ...
,
eastern copperhead
The eastern copperhead (''Agkistrodon contortrix''), also known as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae.
The eastern ...
,
cottonmouth
''Agkistrodon piscivorus'' is a species of pit viper in the subfamily Crotalinae of the family Viperidae. It is one of the world's few semiaquatic vipers (along with the Florida cottonmouth), and is native to the southeastern United States. As ...
eastern diamondback rattlesnake
The eastern diamondback rattlesnake (''Crotalus adamanteus'') is a species of pit viper in the family Viperidae. The species is endemic to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the heaviest venomous snakes in the Americas and the largest ...
and
canebrake rattlesnake
The timber rattlesnake, canebrake rattlesnake, or banded rattlesnake (''Crotalus horridus'') Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publishing Associates, a division of ...
can all be found in Louisiana.
The largest reported
American alligator
The American alligator (''Alligator mississippiensis''), sometimes referred to colloquially as a gator or common alligator, is a large crocodilian reptile native to the Southeastern United States. It is one of the two extant species in the g ...
was a male killed in 1890 on Marsh Island in Louisiana, and reportedly measured at .
Birds
Approximately 160 species of birds are year-round residents or probable confirmed breeders in Louisiana and another 244 are known to regularly migrate through or winter in the state or its immediate adjacent waters. There are 69 species on the CWCS species of conservation concern list of which 42 species are considered critically threatened, imperiled or rare, according to the Louisiana Natural Heritage Program. Shorebirds and songbirds constitute the majority of species. In 1902, the eastern brown pelican was made a part of the
Seal of Louisiana
The Seal of Louisiana (french: Sceau de la Louisiane) is the official government emblem of the State of Louisiana. Originally devised in 1812, the latest version was enacted in 2006.
History
Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the area tha ...
and, ten years later, in 1912, the pelican and her young adorned the
flag of Louisiana
The flag of Louisiana consists of a rectangular field of blue with the arms of Louisiana, the pelican vulning herself, in white in the center, with a ribbon beneath, also in white, containing in blue the state motto: "Union Justice Confidence. ...
as well. The official nickname of Louisiana is the ''Pelican State''.
In 1958, the pelican was made the official state bird of Louisiana. This act was amended on July 26, 1966, to specifically designate the brown pelican. The
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
's
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...
are named in honor of Louisiana's state bird. The eastern brown pelican is also the national bird of
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
and the
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...
, it is also one of the mascots of
Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
and is on the seals of Tulane University,
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
and the
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...
.
Shore birds are abundant in Louisiana and the most common is the
great white egret
The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...
. This large, all-white heron has an impressive wingspan and stature. The egret occurs often in the
wetlands of Louisiana
The wetlands of Louisiana are water-saturated coastal and swamp regions of southern Louisiana, often called 'Bayou'.
The Louisiana coastal zone stretches from the border of Texas to the Mississippi line and comprises two wetland-dominated ecosyste ...
and coastal areas that provides it with plenty of fish, amphibians and small mammals to feast on. This bird is also the official symbol of the
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...
.
The
American bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
nests in southeastern coastal parishes and, occasionally on large lakes in northern and central parishes, but these nests are less successful. Some of America's tallest birds, such as the
great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...
and
great egret
The great egret (''Ardea alba''), also known as the common egret, large egret, or (in the Old World) great white egret or great white heron is a large, widely distributed egret. The four subspecies are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and ...
, cannot resist the fishing opportunities that exist in the Louisiana swampland. Raptors such as the
osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
,
American black vulture
The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, Cen ...
and
barred owl
The barred owl (''Strix varia''), also known as the northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl, is a North American large species of owl. A member of the true owl family, Strigidae, they belong to the genus '' Strix'', whic ...
live in the marshes of southern Louisiana. Migratory waterfowl and songbirds often make stopovers or actually spend the winter in these wetlands.
Amphibians
The
American green tree frog
The American green tree frog (''Dryophytes cinereus'' or ''Hyla cinerea'') is a common arboreal species of New World tree frog belonging to the family Hylidae. This nocturnal insectivore is moderately sized and has a bright green to reddish-brow ...
Gulf Coast waterdog
The western waterdog (''Necturus beyeri'') is a species of aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae. It is Endemism, endemic to the southeastern United States, where it occurs in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
Taxonomy
This may ...
Hurter's spadefoot toad
Hurter's spadefoot toad or Hurter's spadefoot (''Scaphiopus hurteri'') is a species of American spadefoot toad (family Scaphiopodidae) found in the south central United States (Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma); its range might extend to the ...
and
southern toad
The southern toad (''Anaxyrus terrestris'') is a true toad native to the southeastern United States, from eastern Louisiana and southeastern Virginia south to Florida. It often lives in areas with sandy soils. It is nocturnal and spends the day i ...
bronze frog
The bronze frog (''Lithobates clamitans clamitans'') is a subspecies of '' Lithobates clamitans'' found in the southeastern region of North America.
Description
The bronze frog grows up to 2–4 in (5.4–10.2 cm). Distinguishing ch ...
.
American bullfrog
The American bullfrog (''Lithobates catesbeianus''), often simply known as the bullfrog in Canada and the United States, is a large true frog native to eastern North America. It typically inhabits large permanent water bodies such as swamps, po ...
s are the largest frogs native to Louisiana.
Fish
The
white perch
The white perch (''Morone americana'') is not a true perch but is a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America. In some places it is referred to as "Silver Bass".
The name "White perc ...
Cajun French
Louisiana French ( frc, français de la Louisiane; lou, françé la lwizyàn) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana. As of today Louisia ...
, was designated the official state fish of Louisiana in 1993. Coastal beaches are inhabited by sea turtles. Freshwater fish include bass, crappie, and bream. Red and white crawfishes are the leading commercial crustaceans.
Many sharks have been observed in Louisiana waters; including, but not limited to lemon sharks,
tiger sharks
The tiger shark (''Galeocerdo cuvier'') is a species of requiem shark and the last extant member of the family Galeocerdonidae. It is a large macropredator, capable of attaining a length over . Populations are found in many tropical and tempera ...
,
bull shark
The bull shark (''Carcharhinus leucas''), also known as the Zambezi shark (informally zambi) in Africa and Lake Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a species of requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in riv ...
s and
blacktip shark
The blacktip shark (''Carcharhinus limbatus'') is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae. It is common to coastal tropical and subtropical waters around the world, including brackish habitats. Genetic analyses have re ...
s. The sharks, for instance the bull shark, have often been observed throughout the
Atchafalaya Basin
The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp (; Louisiana French: ''L'Atchafalaya'', ), is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atc ...
, 900 miles up the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, and in inland bayous and wetlands. The
alligator gar
The alligator gar (''Atractosteus spatula'') is a ray-finned euryhaline fish related to the bowfin in the infraclass Holostei . It is the largest species in the gar family, and among the largest freshwater fish in North America. The fossil reco ...
Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all ...
in Southeastern Louisiana, are two additional species of fish in Louisiana.
The
bowfin
The bowfin (''Amia calva'') is a bony fish, native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being the sole surviving species of the Halecomorphi ...
, known by many other names such as the mudfish, dogfish, grinnel, grindel, jack, jackfish, cypress trout, cotton fish, and in South Louisiana; choupique (pronounced shoe-pick or shoe-peg), or chew-pic, is found in many areas of Louisiana.
Endangered species
Threatened animal species include five species of sea turtles:
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
,
hawksbill
The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is large ...
,
Kemp's ridley
Kemp's ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys kempii''), also called the Atlantic ridley sea turtle, is the rarest species of sea turtle and is the world's most endangered species of sea turtle. It is one of two living species in the genus '' Lepido ...
,
leatherback
The leatherback sea turtle (''Dermochelys coriacea''), sometimes called the lute turtle or leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to and weights ...
, and loggerhead. Twenty-three Louisiana animal species were on the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...
's threatened and endangered species list for 2003. Among those listed are the
Louisiana black bear
The Louisiana black bear (''Ursus americanus luteolus''), one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, is found in parts of Louisiana, mainly along the Mississippi River Valley and the Atchafalaya River Basin. It was classified as 'threatene ...
,
American bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
,
inflated heelsplitter
''Potamilus inflatus'', the inflated heelsplitter, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
This species was called by the common name ''Alabama heelsplitter'' in the standar ...
, and
red-cockaded woodpecker
The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States.
Description
The red-cockaded woodpecker is small to mid-sized species, being intermediate in size between North America's two ...
. The Louisiana WAP identifies 240 species of concern. The
mountain lion
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...
population in Louisiana is small but growing in recent times. There is a relatively small and threatened population of
Louisiana black bear
The Louisiana black bear (''Ursus americanus luteolus''), one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear, is found in parts of Louisiana, mainly along the Mississippi River Valley and the Atchafalaya River Basin. It was classified as 'threatene ...
s.
The historic range of the
Florida panther
The Florida panther is a North American cougar (''P. c. couguar'') population in South Florida. It lives in pinelands, tropical hardwood hammocks, and mixed freshwater swamp forests. It is known under a number of common names including Costa R ...
extended from
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
to Louisiana throughout the Gulf Coast states and
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. Today, the only place with wild Florida panthers is the southwestern tip of Florida. The Florida panther is considered of historical occurrence in Louisiana. The historic range included as far west as Western Louisiana and the East Lower
Mississippi River Valley
The Mississippi embayment is a physiographic feature in the south-central United States, part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain. It is essentially a northward continuation of the fluvial sediments of the Mississippi River Delta to its conflu ...
through the southeastern states. Even though numerous sighting reports continue to surface annually throughout its historic range, it is unlikely that viable populations of the Florida panther presently occur outside of the State of Florida.
The Louisiana black bear has been taken off the endangered species list.
Mississippi diamondback terrapin is recognized as a "species of concern" in Louisiana, but is found on the Mississippi border.
Invasive species
Nutria
Tabasco tycoon and naturalist Edward McIlhenny brought thirteen adult
nutria
The nutria (''Myocastor coypus''), also known as the coypu, is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent.
Classified for a long time as the only member of the family Myocastoridae, ''Myocastor'' is now included within Echimyidae, the family of t ...
from
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
to his home in
New Iberia
New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Lafa ...
, during the 1930s, for the fur farming industry. Two years later, one hundred and fifty got out of the pen, supposedly escaping during a storm. The nutria reproduced at a high rate, increasing by the thousands every year. By the 1960s the number ranged to as high as twenty million, and increasing. By the time the government instituted a control program, the nutria was destroying Louisiana marshes and wetlands, causing widespread erosion. In the 21st century, the nutria is one of the most common and despised pests in the Bayou State.Tulane: The Louisiana Environment: Nutria, ''Exotic Species in Louisiana'' Retrieved 2017-03-29
The story of the nutria is not unique. Many species of birds, mammals, fish, and plants have been introduced into the Louisiana environment in the past two centuries. Exotic species, or species that have been introduced to areas outside their native range, take heavy tolls on the ecosystems they colonize. Some invaders, such as the leafy vine
kudzu
Kudzu (; also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot) is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands, but invasive species, invasive in many ...
(''Pueria lobelia''), destroy the habitat for resident wildlife. Other species fiercely compete with native plants and animals for resources.
By some estimates, exotic species pose the second most serious threat to endangered species after habitat loss. Nutria were introduced into coastal marshes from
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
in the mid-1900s, and their population has since exploded into the millions. They cause serious damage to coastal marshes and may dig burrows in levees. Hence, Louisiana has had a bounty to try to reduce nutria numbers.
Large
alligators
An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...
feed heavily on nutria, so alligators may not only control nutria populations in Louisiana, but also prevent them spreading east into
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and possibly the
Everglades
The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...
. Since hunting and trapping preferentially take the large alligators that are the most important in eating nutria, some changes in harvesting may be needed to capitalize on their ability to control nutria.
Monk parakeet
An agricultural pest in its native South American range, the
monk parakeet
The monk parakeet (''Myiopsitta monachus''), also known as the Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its average lifespan is 20 ...
was first brought to the U.S. as a cage bird. They were so popular that over 60,000 were imported between 1969 and 1972. By the 1980s it had already been released in many parts of the country and had established small breeding colonies. Twenty years later, monk parakeet numbers have increased exponentially but their distribution remains spotty.
Monk parakeets tend to be restricted to urban areas where they feed and nest in ornamental palm trees, occupying a niche that no indigenous bird holds. So far, their distribution in Louisiana has been limited almost exclusively to the
white-tailed deer
The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...
found that death rates for young deer were twice as high in areas with fire ants as in uninfested areas. In Louisiana, the spread of fire ants has been linked to the decline of the
loggerhead shrike
The loggerhead shrike (''Lanius ludovicianus'') is a passerine bird in the family Laniidae. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related northern shrike (''L. borealis'') occurs north of its range, however it ...
and some species of warblers. The red fire ant has replaced nearly half the native insect species in some areas it has colonized.
See also
*
Fauna of the United States
The fauna of the United States of America is all the animals living in the Continental United States and its surrounding seas and islands, the Hawaiian Archipelago, Alaska in the Arctic, and several island-territories in the Pacific and in the ...