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Distributed for University Press of New England

Adirondack Wildlife

A Field Guide

The breathtaking six-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York is comprised of a multiplicity of habitats, including over 2,800 lakes and ponds, more than 30,000 miles of running water, and 46 major mountain peaks. Adirondack Wildlife: A Field Guide is, astonishingly, the first authoritative handbook devoted to the natural history and ecology of the Adirondacks and the Park’s invertebrates, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The book leads the reader on an intimate journey through the Adirondack Park, beginning with the alpine communities above timberline and descending through the conifer and hardwood forests to the wetlands, streams, and lakes. Ryan’s crisp and authoritative species-by-species accounts of the park’s fauna are fabulously illustrated in color and in black and white. The book is portable and geared towards use in the field. Each chapter concludes with “sources and additional readings;” back matter includes a glossary and species checklists. The park’s hundreds of thousands of residents and millions of visitors will profit immeasurably by having the indispensable Adirondack Wildlife at hand.

296 pages | 5 x 8 1/4 | © 2009

Earth Sciences: General Earth Sciences


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments • Introduction • THE HISTORY AND HABITATS • A Brief History of the Adirondacks • Geologic History • Human History • The Adirondack Park • Forest Communities • The Alpine Zone • Spruce-Fir Forests • Mixed Conifer-Hardwood Forests • Beech-Maple Forests • Winter Tree Survival • Adirondack Waters • Watersheds • Running Water • Still Waters • Aquatic Life • Impacts of Acid Rain • THE WILDLIFE • Common Invertebrates • Common Flies • Bees, Wasps, and Ants • Terrestrial Beetles and Bugs • Grasshoppers and Crickets • Butterflies and Moths • Aquatic Insects • Other Invertebrates • Common Fish • Bullhead and Catfish • Brown Bullhead • Suckers • Longnose Sucker • White Sucker • Minnows • Cutlips Minnow • Golden Shiner • Lake Chub • Eastern Blacknose Dace • Longnose Dace • Creek Chub • Fallfish • Pearl Dace • Brassy Minnow • Common Shiner • Bridle Shiner • Northern Redbelly Dace • Bluntnose Minnow • Flathead Minnow • Salmon, Trout, and Whitefish • Cisco • Lake Whitefish • Round Whitefish • Rainbow Trout • Atlantic Salmon • Brown Trout • Brook Trout • Lake Trout • Smelt • Rainbow Smelt • Mudminnows • Central Mudminnow • Pike and Pickerel • Northern Pike • Chain Pickerel • Killifish • Banded Killifish • Sunfish and Bass • Rock Bass • Redbreast Sunfish • Pumpkinseed • Smallmouth Bass • Largemouth Bass • Perch, Walleye, and Darters • Tessellated Darter • Yellow Perch • Walleye • Sculpins • Slimy Sculpin • Amphibians and Reptiles • Salamanders • Northern Two-lined Salamander • Red-backed Salamander • Northern Dusky Salamander • Spring Salamander • Red-spotted Newt • Spotted Salamander • Toads and Frogs • American Toad • Gray Tree Frog • Spring Peeper • Bullfrog • Green Frog • Wood Frog • Leopard Frog • Mink Frog • Pickerel Frog • Turtles • Wood Turtle • Painted Turtle • Snapping Turtle • Snakes • Red-bellied Snake • Brown Snake • Ringneck Snake • Garter Snake • Ribbon Snake • Milk Snake • Smooth Green Snake • Northern Water Snake • Timber Rattlesnake • Birds • Loons, Grebes, and Herons • Common Loon • Pied-billed Grebe • Great Blue Heron • American Bittern • Ducks and Geese • Canada Goose • Wood Duck • American Black Duck • Mallard • Ring-necked Duck • Common Merganser • Upland Game Birds • Ruffed Grouse • Spruce Grouse • Wild Turkey • Diurnal Birds of Prey • Turkey Vulture • Osprey • Bald Eagle • Sharp-shinned Hawk • Cooper’s Hawk • Northern Goshawk • Red-shouldered Hawk • Broad-winged Hawk • Red-tailed Hawk • American Kestral • Merlin • Peregrine Falcon • Owls • Great Horned Owl • Barred Owl • Northern Saw-whet Owl • Shorebirds and Gulls • Killdeer • Spotted Sandpiper • American Woodcock • Herring Gull • Doves and Cuckoos • Mourning Dove • Yellow-billed Cuckoo • Black-billed Cuckoo • Swifts and Hummingbirds • Chimney Swift • Ruby-throated Hummingbird • Kingfishers • Belted Kingfisher • Woodpeckers • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker • Downy Woodpecker • Hairy Woodpecker • Black-backed Woodpecker • Three-toed Woodpecker • Northern Flicker • Pileated Woodpecker • Flycatchers • Great Crested Flycatcher • Olive-sided Flycatcher • Yellow-bellied Flycatcher • Alder Flycatcher • Least Flycatcher • Eastern Wood-Pewee • Eastern Phoebe • Eastern Kingbird • Vireos • Blue-headed Vireo • Red-eyed Vireo • Jays, Crows, and Ravens • Gray Jay • Blue Jay • American Crow • Common Raven • Swallows • Barn Swallow • Tree Swallow • Bank Swallow • Chickadees • Black-capped Chickadee • Boreal Chickadee • Nuthatches and Creepers • White-breasted Nuthatch • Red-breasted Nuthatch • Brown Creeper • Wrens • House Wren • Winter Wren • Kinglets • Golden-crowned Kinglet • Ruby-crowned Kinglet • Thrushes and their Allies • Eastern Bluebird • Hermit Thrush • Veery • Swainson’s Thrush • Wood Thrush • American Robin • Mockingbirds and Thrashers • Gray Catbird • Brown Thrasher •Starlings and Waxwings • European Starling • Cedar Waxwing • Warblers • Nashville Warbler • Northern Parula Warbler • Yellow Warbler • Chestnut-sided Warbler • Magnolia Warbler • Black-throated Green Warbler • Black-throated Blue Warbler • Yellow-rumped Warbler • Blackburnian Warbler • Pine Warbler • Blackpoll Warbler • Black-and-white Warbler • American Redstart • Canada Warbler • Mourning Warbler • Ovenbird • Northern Waterthrush • Common Yellowthroat • Tanagers • Scarlet Tanager • Sparrows, Towhee, and Juncos • American Tree Sparrow • Chipping Sparrow • Song Sparrow • Swamp Sparrow • White-throated Sparrow • House Sparrow • Eastern Towhee • Dark-eyed Junco • Grosbeaks and Buntings • Rose-breasted Grosbeak • Evening Grosbeak • Indigo Bunting • Blackbirds and Orioles • Red-winged Blackbird • Rusty Blackbird • Common Grackle • Baltimore Oriole • Finches • Purple Finch • Pine Siskin • American Goldfinch • Mammals • Marsupials • Virginia Opossum • Shrews • Masked Shrew • Water Shrew • Short-tailed Shrew • Moles • Hairy-tailed Mole • Star-nosed Mole • Bats • Little Brown Bat • Eastern Pipistrelle • Big Brown Bat • Silver Haired Bat • Red Bat • Hoary Bat • Rabbits and Hares • Eastern Cottontail Rabbit • Snowshoe Hare • Small Rodents • Deer Mouse • White-footed Mouse • Meadow Jumping Mouse • Woodland Jumping Mouse • Southern Red-backed Vole • Meadow Vole • Rock Vole • Woodland Vole • Southern Bog Lemming • Northern Bog Lemming • Chipmunks and Squirrels • Eastern Chipmunk • Eastern Gray Squirrel • Red Squirrel • Southern Flying Squirrel • Northern Flying Squirrel • Larger Rodents • Woodchuck • Muskrat • Beaver • Porcupine • Weasels and their Allies • Short-tailed Weasel • Long-tailed Weasel • American Mink • American Marten • Fisher • River Otter • Striped Skunk • Procyonids • Raccoon • Canids • Red Fox • Gray Fox • Coyote • Felids • Bobcat • Bears • American Black Bear • Ungulates • White-tail Deer • Moose • Extirpated Carnivores • Glossary • Species Checklist • Index

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