Fantail Darter

Fish > Perches & Darters

The Fantail Darter (Etheostoma flabellare) is a tough, fascinating benthic fish native to the clean, rocky mountain creeks and gravel riffles of eastern North America. Unlike many brightly colored darters, it relies on sophisticated cryptic camouflage to blend into...

Carolina Chickadee

Birds > Songbirds

The Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) is a charming, inquisitive woodland acrobat that brightens southern forests and backyard feeders throughout the American Southeast. Famously identified by its crisp black cap and bib contrasting with clean white cheeks,...

Masked Shrew

Mammals > Eulipotyphla

The Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus), often called the Common Shrew of North America, is a tiny, hyperactive dynamo that ranks among the smallest and lightest mammals on the continent. Possessing a furnace-like metabolic rate that requires it to consume up to three times...

Northern Yellow Bat

Mammals > Bats

The Northern Yellow Bat (Lasiurus intermedius) is one of the largest and most handsome vespertilionid bats in North America. Unlike cave-dwelling species, this solitary, tree-roosting specialist is intimately tied to the subtropical maritime forests of the Gulf and...

Questionable Stropharia

Fungi > Agarics & Gilled Mushrooms

The Questionable Stropharia (Stropharia ambigua) is an unmistakably handsome, elegant gilled mushroom native to the damp, mossy coniferous rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. Instantly distinguished by its rich egg-yolk to golden-yellow cap adorned around its rim...