Prairies are made up of mostly grasses, sedges (grasslike plants), and other flowering plants called forbs (e.g. coneflowers, milkweed).
Explore Wisconsin ecosystems! Here you’ll find information on habitat types, plants and animals found in Wisconsin and much more.
Lions, tigers, and bears-oh my!! Frogs, turtles, spiders-eek! Birds, butterflies, worms-How fun…
The Great Lakes—Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario—and their connecting channels form the…
Can you name the four main habitats of Wisconsin? Check out this page to get to know our natural…
Curious kids of all ages can easily answer the question “hey, what is this?” No need to be a…
Sometimes called "Federation Squirrels" because the pattern on their back looks like stars and stripes.
Sea lampreys are members of an ancient family of "jawless fishes" that were around before the dinosaurs.
Spiny water fleas eat zooplankton and compete directly with small fish that also need to eat it.
When spongy moths have an "outbreak," the caterpillars defoliate trees (eat all the leaves).
Believe it or not, these once-scarce pouched birds are now appearing in ever-growing numbers in Wisconsin.
Just like people at a mall, these tiny wingless insect-like creatures mill around in huge numbers.
Black willows are part of a large family of trees and shrubs that usually grow along streams and in other moist places.
These tiny, uncommon animals have pairs of bristles on each segment. They are sometimes called feather duster worms!
Hundreds of thousands of Canada geese (not "Canadian" geese) pass through Wisconsin in their famous V-formations, honking up a storm.
You'll probably never see a lynx in the wild. They are uncommon in Wisconsin and pretty secretive.
You may know this fish by another name such as king salmon, spring salmon, blackmouth, tschawytscha, chin, king, magnum, or shaker.
This wetland plant is very common to Wisconsin's marshes, ponds, ditches, rivers and lakes.
You're sitting on a dock, minding your own business, when you notice a snake swimming by in the water.
Conifers are trees that bear their seeds in cones. When you find a conifer that you don't recognize, ask yourself some questions!
If you like to play freeze tag, you might want to take a few lessons from the cottontail rabbit.
You can find this snake in oak savannas, prairies, marshes, old field, and under trash in vacant city lots.
More than 33 million people live, work, and play in the Great Lakes watershed. Discover the unique characteristics of each of the Great Lakes. Then dive into some of the big issues facing the Great Lakes, including climate change, humans, invasive species, and the future.
Many people mistake this snake for a venomous copperhead. We don't have copperheards in Wisconsin.
People use this tree for woodwork in their homes, hope chests, closets, for lead pencils, posts, and poles.
The world of apps is expanding rapidly and it seems like there is a new nature app released every day.
Both false and southern map turtles are very wary and will flee at the slightest disturbance.
Watching butterflies is a fun summer activity and you can invite them to your very own yard.
Evergreen trees give us vibrant green color in winter when the rest of the world has turned brown
The jack pine is unique because its resinous cones open and release seeds during a fire or from an intense, hot sun.
Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes (averaging only 62 feet) and overall the smallest by volume. Erie is also exposed to the greatest effects from urbanization and agriculture. Lake Erie measures 241 miles wide and 57 miles from north to south, and has 871 miles of shoreline. Because it's not as deep as the other lakes, Erie warms rapidly in the spring and summer and is frequently the only Great Lake to freeze over in winter.
Lake Huron is the third largest of the Great Lakes by volume, holding nearly 850 cubic miles of water. The shores of Huron extend more than 3,800 miles and are characterized by shallow, sandy beaches and the rocky coasts of Georgian Bay. Lake Huron is 206 miles wide and approximately 183 miles from north to south. Home to many ship wrecks, the lake averages a depth of 195 feet.
Butterflies go through a complete metamorphosis. This means they have four stages to their life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, and adult.
Maple sap flows, hibernating mammals wake up, migratory birds return, amphibians stir, and woodland wildflowers take advantage of the warming sun.
Voles are easy to find by their "runways" that are lined with grass and other material from where they were digging.
You'll never walk this critter on a leash because the mudpuppy isn't a dog and it doesn't live on land.
Winged mapleleaf, rock-pocketbook, monkeyface—sounds like World Wrestling Federation wrestlers?
The females of this species have large broad heads and jaws adapted for cracking mollusk and crayfish shells. Ouch!
The Northern White Cedar is easy to identify. It grows nearly everywhere in Wisconsin, except the southwest.
The Northern White Cedar is easy to identify. It grows nearly everywhere in Wisconsin, except the southwest.
In the winter, birch are also easy to identify by the dangling flower clusters in small bunches.
Before wet meadows and moist prairies were drained and tilled for agriculture, the prairie white-fringed orchid was more common.
A famous bird expert once described the male purple finch as "a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice."
The red pine stands tall in the forest (80-120 feet) with a narrow trunk measuring only 2-3 feet in diameter.
Find any wet or moist habitat in Wisconsin and there you'll find the common red-winged blackbird.
Cranesbill, star shower, diamond-sparks—these are all names for this plant. Can you guess why?
This Wisconsin prairie grass can be found in high prairies in southern Wisconsin to the north.
With a name like racerunner, you'd have to be fast. And, as their name suggests, racerunners are very fast.
The name for this lizard is appropriate. When it's caught sometimes its tail breaks into many pieces like glass.
Softshells are easy to recognize by their long, pointed snouts and scuteless top shells (carapaces).
This hare changes its coat twice a year, exchanging a thin brown summer coat for a heavy, white winter coat.
The sugar maple was selected as the state tree by school children in a statewide vote in 1893.
The tamarack is NOT an evergreen because an evergreen tree is one that is never totally without leaves.
Snapshot Wisconsin has trail cameras all over the state. Can you identify the animals that were captured on these cameras?
Wisconsin - the word is thought to refer to a running river, which makes sense because lakes and rivers make up a large part of Wisconsin's natural resources.
2006 marked the first year that whooping cranes hatched in the wild in the Midwest in over 100 years!
While you were playing in the hot sun during summer vacation the trees on the streets, in the parks, and it the forests were working hard to keep you cool. They need a rest!
Although badgers have been associated with our coat of arms, the state flag, the University of Wisconsin, the official seal and Cornish miners since the days of the Wisconsin Territory,
For those who simply must know why the polka was recently given official status over the Chicken
The dairy cow was added to the statutes as Wisconsin's official "domestic animal" in recognition
Wisconsin's state flag includes the Coat of Arms which represents many of our valued natural resources and the contributions of early pioneers to the state's development.
The Wisconsin Geological Society proposed a state fossil in 1985 to encourage interest in our geological heritage.
Armed with a flexible measuring tape and a ruler, big tree hunters are searching Wisconsin's cities and countryside for champion trees.
Point to and click on any bird to learn more about them and what they're eating at the feeder.
Tell-tale smooth, peeling bark that looks like paper with small horizontal lines is a sure sign of a yellow birch.
This beautiful wetland plant can be found throughout the Midwest and eastern United States.
