• Chuckwalla

• Desert Tortoise

• Gecko - Banded

• Banded Gila Monster

• Nevada Snakes

Desert Iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis)

Distribution: Southern Nevada
Status: Unprotected
Habitat: Rocky, creosote bush, desert
Size: Adults- 10 inches, nose to tail, light-gray upper body, light belly with darker diagonal stripes on the back and sides
Main Food: Creosote leaves, insects
Habits: This hardy desert survivor lives in the driest, hottest climates of the state. When other lizards and snakes head for cover, the Desert Iguana may still be found basking in the sun. It will also eat insects, carrion and its own fecal matter.

Desert Horned Lizards (Phyrnosoma platyrhinos)

Distribution: Southern Nevada
Status: Unprotected
Habitat: Rocky, creosote bush, desert
Size: 2-inches long, spiny lizard fringed collar, disc-shaped body and short sharp, serrated tail.
Main Food: Insects
Habits: Sometimes called “horny toads,” the horned lizard is not a toad. Because it’s easy to catch, and has a distinctive look, the horned lizard is among the most popular reptiles for pets. This insect eater is particularly fond of ants and small beetles, using its sticky tongue to “zap” them.

Great Basin Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridus lotus)

Distribution: Across Nevada
Status: Unprotected
Habitat: Rocky, brushy desert
Size: Adults- 4-5 feet long
Main Food: Reptiles, eggs, young birds, insects and small mammals
Habits: Rattlesnakes use their tongues and pits in their heads to sense heat and vibration for finding food and avoiding danger. Shy and solitary, they tend to slither away and strike at people only when cornered or startled. Other Nevada rattlesnakes include: the Mojave Green, the Sidewinder, Panamint Rattlesnake and the Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake.

Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporous occidentalis)

Distribution: Northern Nevada
Status: Unprotected
Habitat: Rocky, brushy, desert, Urban
Size: Adults- 10 inches, nose to tail, blue-gray upper body, light belly with dark blue diagonal stripes on the stomach and sides
Main Food: Reptiles, eggs, insects
Habits: Blue patches on its belly give this aggressive little lizard the nickname “Bluebelly.” Look on fence posts, in trees, on rocks and in brush. But, look fast! This swift little fellow can disappear in the link of an eye. By the way, leave him alone, he bites!

• Bony Tailed Chub

• Colorado Pike Minnow

• Humpback Chub

• Razor Back Sucker

• Mountain Bluebird

• Bald Eagle

• Falcon - Peregrine

• Hawk - Goshawk

• Hawk - Red-tailed

• Pelican - American White

• Phainopepla

• Owls
• Burrowing Owl
• Great Horned Owl

• Quail
• Gambel's
• Mountain

• Sage Grouse

• Sandpiper - Least

• Sandhill Crane

• Southwest Willow Flycatcher

• White-faced Ibis

• Yellow-billed Cuckoo

American Coot (Fulica americana)

Distribution: North America
Status: Waterfowl
Habitat: Lakes, ponds and streams
Shape/Movement: 2-4 lbs. Dark iridescent body and head feathers, bright yellow beak and eyes and big yellow, webbed feet.
Adaptations: Often called “mudhen,” because it feeds on the bottom of the marsh, it shares the same habitat and many of the same characteristics. Most hunters will avoid this ubiquitous little bird because it’s not usually palatable, but with a lot of skilled cooking the coot can be delicious.

Black Crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Distribution: North America
Status: Protected
Habitat: Streams, ponds and lakes
Shape/Movement: While flying and sitting, this fish and frog-eating bird appears quite squat. But, when its neck unreels to strike at its unsuspecting prey, it achieves quite amazing length.
Adaptations: Like most herons, the black Crowned Night Heron is extremely patient, often working a small pool or backwater for hours, standing perfectly still while its prey swims around it.

Blue Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

Distribution: Western States, Canada
Status: Upland Game
Habitat: Mountain forests,
Shape/Movement: 3-4 pounds, chicken size, mottled gray feathers
Adaptations: The Blue Grouse is often called “Fool’s Hen,” because of its deliberate and sometimes obvious behavior. This allows the bird to blend in by being still or moving very slowly. Like the sage grouse, the blue grouse engages in colorful and elaborate “drumming” during courtship. Males fan their tail feathers out and stomp in circles with choppy steps.

California Gull (Larus californicus)

Distribution: Western States, Canada
Status: Protected
Habitat: Lakes, rivers, ponds, coastal
Shape/Movement: Medium size white bird with gray wings and back, flies and swims.
Adaptations: The California Gull is the gull often seen in Nevada’s lakes and ponds. It’s native to Nevada and the state bird of Utah. In a natural setting, the California Gull feeds on small fish, insects, or raid the nests of other birds. This adaptable bird has also found easy pickings in human landfills and city parks.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

Distribution: North America
Status: Waterfowl
Habitat: Marsh, lake, pond, stream
Shape/Movement: 10 lbs. Medium gray back with light stomach and breast, black head and neck with a white cheek patch
Adaptations: This most common of North American geese is often misnamed “Canadian Geese” or “Canadian Honkers.” These large birds migrate south in late fall and north in early spring. Canada Geese are often heard, (“ah-honk” is their contact call), long before they are actually seen.

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Distribution: North America
Status: Protected
Habitat: Streams, ponds and lakes
Shape/Movement: The Great Blue Heron has a tremendous wingspan and long, slow wing beat a sharp, heavy beak, large eyes, streaked plumage and sweeping head feathers giving this bird a wild-eyed appearance.
Adaptations: These patient hunters are anything but frantic as they wade the marshes and ponds, then sand stock still, looking like a stand of reeds or willows, waiting for mice, minnows or amphibians to happen by, then snap them up.

Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus)

Distribution: Western States, Canada
Status: Protected
Habitat: Mountains, foothills
Shape/Movement: This jay has a gray-blue color and dark head and crow-like habits
Adaptations: Often called camp-robbers for their propensity for filching unguarded food, the pinyon jay’s primary food is pine nuts, which they will store in fall. They may also be seen pulling up an unsuspecting earthworm or digging a beetle or grub out of rotting bark.

Redhead Duck (Aytha americana)

Distribution: North America
Status: Waterfowl
Habitat: Marsh, lake, pond, stream
Shape/Movement: This medium sized diving duck is not common in Nevada. It has a short, sloping forehead, light body with medium back and deep, red-brown head
Adaptations: Like its larger cousin, the canvasback, it is a diving duck. The male gives a loud catlike meow. Females usually remain silent. It feeds on submerged vegetation in shallow water in sloughs lakes and marshes.

Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)

Distribution: Western States, Canada
Status: Protected
Habitat: Sage brush and pinyon-juniper forests, foothills
Shape/Movement: This jay has a gray all over and related to the crow
Adaptations: A scavenger by adaptive behavior, they are often seen prowling around camp areas. Naturally, they feed on insects, the eggs of other birds and acorns. They will often carry acorns uphill to store them for winter, “counter balancing” the tendency of acorns to bounce downhill, earning them the name of the “uphill planter.”

Snowy Egret

Distribution: North America
Status: Protected
Habitat: Streams, ponds and lakes
Shape/Movement: A medium sized heron with white plumage and a black bill, and long legs. The snowy egret uses a thin veil of plumes in a showy courtship dance which both mates do face to face in the same manner.
Adaptations: Like most herons, the snowy egret is extremely patient, uses its long, sharp bill to probe the shallow, fresh waters of marshes and lakes for small fish, frogs and invertebrates.

Teal Cinnamon (Anas cyanoptera)

Distribution: North America
Status: Upland Game
Habitat: Woodlands, Riparian, Rural
Shape/Movement: Teal are small with a rapid wing beat and tight flocks.
Adaptations: Blue-Winged (Anas discors) Green-winged “Common” (Anas crecca) female Cinnamon have high quacking voices, males utter a low, rattling noise during courtship. Blue-winged Teal females also utter a high quack, while courting males give a high whistle. The Green-winged teal males give a high “dreep” sound, while the females have a low quack.

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)

Distribution: Western States, Canada
Status: Nongame
Shape/Movement: This bird has a startling blue color over its whole 3-4 inch long body.
Adaptations: The Western Bluebird (Rocky Mountain Bluebird) is the state bird of Nevada. it prefers the open woodland and wooded pastures and meadows of the high country, nesting in holes in trees of all kinds. In Nevada the bluebird has never been common, but intrusions by aggressive nonnative birds and changing habitat have decreased their numbers.

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Distribution: U.S. - Central Mexico
Status: Upland Game
Habitat: Woodlands, Riparian, Rural
Shape/Movement: 10-12 lbs. Dark iridescent body feathers, long, squared tail feathers that toms will fan when strutting. Toms have a red-white and blue head which deepens in color during strutting
Adaptations: With keen eyesight and hearing and an almost paranoid nature, these wily birds make difficult hunting, to say the least. Polts will eat lots of insects and small amphibians, adults eat mainly seed and grain.

Download your guide to Nevada's Frogs and Toads PDF. Learn how to tell the difference between frogs and toads, and how to identify them when you're out and about.