Utah wildlife and plants

American avocet

An upturned bill, blue-gray legs and a sweeping feeding motion make this wetland shorebird especially distinctive.

Recurvirostra americana

Tundra swan

A large white migrant whose family groups link Utah's wetlands with Arctic nesting country.

Cygnus columbianus

Mule deer

Found across Utah, from high mountains to city neighborhoods, and named for its large, mule-like ears.

Odocoileus hemionus

Rocky Mountain elk

Utah's state mammal, best known for the fall bugling of bulls during the rut.

Cervus elaphus nelsoni

Moose

The largest member of the deer family in Utah, at home where northern mountain forest meets water.

Alces alces

American bison

North America's largest land animal, with wild herds on Antelope Island, in the Henry Mountains and in the Book Cliffs.

Bison bison

Pronghorn

An open-country specialist with a white rump, unusual shedding horn sheaths and a need for connected habitat.

Antilocapra americana

Desert bighorn sheep

Sure-footed sheep of the slickrock, restored to Zion after disappearing there.

Ovis canadensis nelsoni

Mountain goat

White climbers of the high rock, brought to Utah starting in 1967.

Oreamnos americanus

American black bear

Utah's only bear, which isn't always black and eats mostly plants.

Ursus americanus

Cougar

Also called mountain lion or puma, and found wherever Utah's deer are.

Puma concolor

Bobcat

A seldom-seen wild cat named for its short, bobbed tail.

Coyote

Common across Utah, including in cities, and an opportunist that will eat almost anything.

American beaver

A paddle-tailed rodent whose feeding and construction can transform a stream into a complex wetland.

Castor canadensis

Utah prairie dog

A Utah endemic whose short-grass colonies support a much larger community of grassland wildlife.

Cynomys parvidens

Bats

Insect-eating flying mammals whose lives depend on suitable roosts, water and a safe seasonal cycle.

Snakes

A diverse group of native predators best appreciated without handling or close-range identification attempts.

Bear River refuge birds

Read the refuge as a changing set of habitats, from shallow feeding flats to marsh cover and deeper water.

Brine shrimp and brine flies

Tiny crustaceans and insects carry energy from Great Salt Lake's microscopic producers to its birds.

Cutthroat trout

Utah's native trout, with distinct drainage histories and restoration needs that a familiar throat mark cannot tell on its own.

Oncorhynchus clarkii

Black-necked stilt

Pink legs and a straight, needlelike bill distinguish this black-and-white wader from its avocet neighbors.

Himantopus mexicanus

Eared grebe

A small diving bird whose long autumn stopovers reveal the importance of Great Salt Lake's invertebrate food supply.

Podiceps nigricollis

American pika

A small rabbit relative that gathers plants among mountain rocks and stays active beneath winter snow.

Ochotona princeps

Ringtail

An elusive raccoon relative that moves through canyon rock with a long black-and-white ringed tail.

Bassariscus astutus

Western (boreal) toad

A warty mountain amphibian whose breeding waters and disease risks require a light touch from visitors.

Anaxyrus boreas

Northern leopard frog

A spotted frog that needs a connected mix of breeding water, moist feeding ground and overwintering habitat.

Lithobates pipiens

Mojave desert tortoise

A long-lived desert reptile whose slow life history and reliance on shelter make disturbance especially costly.

Gopherus agassizii

Common chuckwalla

A heavy-bodied, mostly plant-eating lizard that uses rocky crevices as both refuge and defense.

Sauromalus ater

June sucker

A Utah Lake native whose recovery depends on both adult spawning access and safe nursery habitat for young fish.

Chasmistes liorus

Monarch butterfly

An orange-and-black migrant whose caterpillars need milkweed and whose adults need flowers through the season.

Danaus plexippus

Limber pine

A slow-growing native pine of harsh mountain sites, with five needles in each bundle.

Pinus flexilis

Douglas-fir

A native mountain conifer whose hanging cones have distinctive three-pointed bracts.

Pseudotsuga menziesii

White fir

Also called concolor fir, a native tree with long, flat needles and upright cones.

Abies concolor

Blue spruce

A Utah native whose sharp, four-sided needles can be green as well as blue.

Picea pungens

Quaking aspen

Utah's state tree forms bright mountain groves whose separate trunks can share an underground root system.

Populus tremuloides

Bigtooth maple

The maple behind the red and orange on Utah's fall hillsides.

Acer grandidentatum

Gambel oak

A thicket-forming native oak that links Utah's foothills with mountain woodlands and provides important wildlife food and cover.

Quercus gambelii

Utah juniper

A drought-tolerant evergreen with scale-covered twigs, fibrous bark, and berry-like cones that feed wildlife.

Juniperus osteosperma

Two-needle pinyon

The small pine of pinyon-juniper woodland, with needles in pairs.

Pinus edulis

Ponderosa pine

A big, long-needled mountain pine with orange, plated bark on older trunks.

Pinus ponderosa

Fremont cottonwood

A broad-crowned river tree whose new generations depend on the right combination of flowing water, exposed sediment, and moisture.

Populus fremontii

Big sagebrush

A foundational shrub of Utah's open country, with small gray-green leaves and an outsized role in wildlife habitat.

Artemisia tridentata

Rubber rabbitbrush

A flexible-stemmed native shrub whose late-season yellow flowers extend feeding opportunities for pollinators.

Ericameria nauseosa

Sego lily

Utah's state flower briefly lifts a three-petaled cup above open, dry-country vegetation before its aboveground growth fades.

Calochortus nuttallii

Indian ricegrass

Utah's state grass is a cool-season perennial whose airy seedheads rise from distinct clumps on dry ground.

Achnatherum hymenoides

Blue grama

A low native grass with sideways, eyelash-like seedheads and a growing season tied to warmth and summer moisture.

Bouteloua gracilis

Blackbrush

A tangled desert shrub of shallow soils whose branches darken when wet.

Coleogyne ramosissima

Cliffrose

An evergreen shrub with fragrant cream flowers and feathery-tailed seeds.

Purshia mexicana var. stansburyana

Harriman's yucca

A low yucca with stiff, sharp leaves and bell-shaped flowers pollinated by the yucca moth.

Yucca harrimaniae

Alcove columbine

A small-flowered columbine of seeps and hanging gardens, where groundwater creates a cool refuge within the desert.

Aquilegia micrantha

Sacred datura

Canyon country's largest flower, which opens in the evening, and a poisonous plant.

Datura wrightii

Tamarisk

A non-native, water-loving shrub along southwestern rivers, and a target of restoration work.

Cheatgrass

An introduced annual grass that gets a head start on native plants by sprouting in fall.

Bromus tectorum

Showy milkweed

A broad-leaved native perennial whose clustered flowers support pollinators and whose leaves can host monarch caterpillars.

Asclepias speciosa

Scarlet gilia

A slender wildflower whose long trumpets rise from finely divided leaves and offer nectar to hummingbirds and other visitors.

Ipomopsis aggregata

Arrowleaf balsamroot

A long-lived foothill perennial that pairs large arrow-shaped leaves with yellow flower heads and important native-bee relationships.

Balsamorhiza sagittata

Antelope bitterbrush

A drought-tolerant shrub with small three-lobed leaves, pale yellow flowers, and a major role in winter browse.

Purshia tridentata

Curlleaf mountain-mahogany

A slow-growing evergreen shrub or small tree with rolled leaf edges and conspicuous, feathery-tailed fruits.

Cercocarpus ledifolius

Bluebunch wheatgrass

A widespread native bunchgrass with slender upright spikes and a root system adapted to dry western landscapes.

Pseudoroegneria spicata

Engelmann spruce

A high-country evergreen of cool, moist forest, recognized by single needles, scaly bark, and small hanging cones.

Picea engelmannii

Ute ladies'-tresses

A rare wetland orchid with a spiral of pale flowers, dependent on moist, relatively open habitat.

Spiranthes diluvialis

Dwarf bear-poppy

A federally endangered Utah endemic whose white flowers and low leaf tufts belong to specialized gypsum-soil habitat.

Arctomecon humilis

Shrubby reed-mustard

A small, federally endangered perennial restricted to specialized shale habitat in northeastern Utah.

Hesperidanthus suffrutescens