The following photos were donated by past participants in the National Wildlife® Photo Contest. The deadline to enter this year’s contest is July 16, 2012. 

American Goldfinch

Goldfinches are among the strictest vegetarians in the bird world, selecting an entirely vegetable diet and only inadvertently swallowing an occasional insect. (Photo: Michael Henry)

White-Tailed Deer

Though almost entirely herbivorous, eating a wide variety of plants, white-tailed deer have been known to opportunistically feed on nesting songbirds and field mice. (Photo: Trish Satkofsky)

Monarch Butterfly

Unlike the larvae that only eat milkweed, adult monarchs feed on a wide variety of nectar bearing flowers. They will visit many different kinds of flowers in their search for food. (Photo: Dave Hawkins)

Eastern Cottontail

Cottontails feed mainly on herbaceous plants such as clovers, grasses, and low broad-leafed weeds in summer, and buds, twigs, and bark in winter. (Photo: Chuanxiao Li)

Lubber Grasshopper

Eastern lubbers, like most all grasshoppers, can regurgitate recently consumed plant material. This regurgitant is mostly liquid and has a dark brown color and is commonly referred to as ‘tobacco spit.’ (Photo: Pamela Wanamaker)

  Gray Squirrel

On very rare occasions, when its usual plant food sources are scarce, Eastern gray squirrels will prey upon insects, frogs, small rodents, and small birds, their eggs and young. (Photo: Colleen Faupel)

LAST CALL FOR ENTRIES! Enter your “sexiest” photos

in this year’s National Wildlife® Photo Contest. Deadline: July 16, 2012.

Eastern cottontail munching on flowers

Photo by Flickr member LAP75

See more of LAP75′s photos on Flickr >>

Your Photo Could Be Here

We want one of your nature photos to be the next Photo of the Day! Share your images with our Flickr group and tag them with PhotoOfTheDay-NWF12.

Don’t have a Flickr account? It’s free and easy to create one.
 

Clearly, I’m not alone in seeing this atypical pattern. A recent study found that the mild winter has set the clock ahead for nesting season throughout much of the nation. And that means many of us could have a treasure trove of some of nature’s finest eggs hidden in our yards this holiday.

Not Your Typical Eggs

Ostrich and Egg by Janet Gatto

As these two species demonstrate, egg size usually is related to the size of the bird that lays it. But there are exceptions. New Zealand’s kiwi, for example, is only half as big as a white pelican, but its egg is several times larger than the pelican’s. A kiwi egg equals about a fourth of its parent’s body weight, which explains a female’s enormous belly during the gestation period and the egg’s strange, oblong shape. If the egg was round, the bird could not lay it.

Welcoming Birds to Your Home

Bluebird Eggs by Kathy Grant

And while you’re at it, take lots of photos of the wildlife that you entice to your yard and see elsewhere, and then submit your favorite images to National Wildlife’s 42nd Annual Photo Contest. The deadline is July 16, so there’s still plenty of time to enter. This year’s competition features some great prizes and you can submit photos in seven categories, including one devoted just to birds and another to baby animals. Happy bird—and egg—watching this Easter!

You can create a haven for wildlife in your own backyard and have it designated as an official Certified Wildlife Habitat^® site today!>>

When I think of conservation successes, I think of the bald eagle.  While the Endangered Species Act was critical for the eagle’s recovery, we also need to thank the State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. 

When the grant program was created in 2000, states like Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky and Maine used it protect eagle nesting habitat and monitor eagles.  State and Tribal Wildlife Grants have played an important role in helping keep eagle recovery on track.

However, bald eagles are just one type of wildlife that is benefitting from this program.  You don’t have to look hard to see how State and Tribal Wildlife Grants are helping wildlife in your own state.

Photo courtesy of John C. Moerk

• In Minnesota, grants are restoring oak savanna for the Karner Blue Butterfly.
• In Idaho, grants are used to enhance sage grouse habitat and study the pygmy rabbit.
• In Georgia, grants are putting bog turtles back into the wild.

Learn more about state wildlife grants in your state.

However, state wildlife grants need your help! The House of Representatives put State Wildlife Grants on the chopping block and completely eliminated the program in their budget.  Some members of congress are standing strong in support of the grants, but we need to make our voices heard and protect funding for this important program.

Urgent! Click here and personalize this message to tell Congress that State and Tribal Wildlife Grants are important to you and your state’s wildlife.

NWF has been hard at work with other members of the Teaming with Wildlife Coalition to make sure that the final government budget restores funding for this program.  So far:

1. In March, citizens from across the country came to DC to tell Congress how State and Tribal Wildlife Grants are helping wildlife in their state.
2. NWF held a press event with other conservation organizations and coalition members to protest conservation cuts.
3. Over 600 organizations from all 50 states have joined NWF in signing a letter to Congress opposing the elimination of State and Tribal Wildlife Grants.

Let’s keep fighting to keep common species common and protect our wildlife!

Just Getting Around

On land, frogs and toads are constantly jumping.  Frogs are generally recognized as the best jumpers of all vertebrates. The Australian rocket frog, for example, can leap over 50 times its body length (two inches) resulting in jumps of close to seven feet.

Kangaroos are marsupial mammals and are the only large animals to use hopping as a principal means of locomotion. The comfortable hopping speed for red kangaroos, for example, is about 15 mph, but they can reach speeds of 40 mph over short distances.  Moreover, some kangaroos can leap more than 10 feet in the air when they have to.

Kangaroo rats are small rodents native to North America.  Their name comes from their bipedal mode of movement as they hop around in a manner that reminds one of kangaroos.

Lemurs are a form of primate unique to Madagascar.  In addition to their incredible looks, some species have an equally incredible way of jumping instead of running (this video shows how unusual and fascinating lemur leaping can be).

Other creatures known for hopping and jumping as they move about include rabbits and grasshoppers.

Gazelles are a species of antelope that mostly walk until they get excited (or threatened).  The tiny Thompson’s gazelle exhibits the very distinctive behavior of “stotting” (running slowly and jumping very high before fleeing).  Like kangaroos, gazelles can leap more than 10 feet into the air.

Jumping on Attack

A species of snake common to Mexico and Central America is known as the jumping viper.  This name comes from its ability to launch itself up to two feet at an attacker during a strike.  In essence, they strike at their assailants with such force that they leave the ground

Jumping spiders are also a species that leaps to attack.  There are 5,000 species of jumping spider in the world which makes up about 13% of all spider species. Interestingly when they leap, they spin a silky thread of web behind them just in case they miss their mark and need to climb back up.

Jumping In Migration

Many creatures use their ability to leap in migration.  Gazelles are one example, but fish can do the same.  As salmon make their way upstream they are able to shoot themselves 10 to 12 feet up a waterfall.   This assumes they are not snatched from mid air by a hungry bear as they make it to their spawning grounds.  The trip is hazardous and the jumping itself can be so draining the these fish can take hours to recover as this video shows.

Jumping Big Cats

Lions and tigers can jump almost equally high.  The vertical leap record for a tiger is more than 12 feet, and the lion is just a few inches less.

The puma is, however, the best jumper of all the mammals.  Pumas, or mountain lions, can leap more than 20 feet straight up without a running start

Jumping For Fun

Even masssive whales can jump straight up out of the water.  Humpbacked whales are famous for this behavior, which is referred to as breaching.  Their tails may still be in the water, but a whale’s head can be 30 feet or more in the air.

Orcas, often called killer whales, can jump close to 20 feet in the air and they actually leave the water (watch this amazing video showing an orca breach).

The mackerel shark holds the fish record for a highest jump from the water having soared more than 20 feet above the waves.

There are, of course, flying fish, but they use their fins to soar many yards but ususally stay low to the water.

Jumping to Come Ashore

Seals and penguins are land dwellers that spend much of their time in the water.  When they come to shore they are sometimes forced to make a huge water-powered leap such shown in this video of penguins springing up on to the Antarctic ice from the sea.  They often jump back into the water feet first.

Jumping from on High

Flying squirrels do not really fly.   They take huge leaps of faith and glide to their destination from on high.  The longest known glide is close to 100 yards. (Watch this video of flying squirrels.)

Jumping Beans

OK, you are saying to yourself that a Mexican jumping bean is not an animal.  That is true.  But inside the bean lurks a larval moth that puts the “jumping” into jumping bean. The moths jump when they get hot, trying to snap their body into a cooler place, as this “weird nature” video reveals.

So there you have it – a look at wild creatures that hop, jump and spring across the land, the water and into the air.  At the National Wildlife Federation we hope to see many great places for these amazing species, and all of the other “jumpers” of the world set aside and protected.

Hop on over to our website for more fun facts, posters, activities, lesson plans and games to help you celebrate National Wildlife Week >>

One day, I took my bike to a nearby bike trail and went for a ride while my parents went to the playground with my son. The paved bike path ran parallel to the highway and at first, I didn’t think the scenery was that beautiful. But, then I looked closer.

Watch this video >>

I passed two rabbits grazing in the grass, and a wildflower meadow. I saw a father and his young daughter walking and exploring. I saw friends power walking and chatting. And I stopped to read a park service sign that explained amazing facts about the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, including that 5 million people live near the watershed and within a 15-minute walk to a creek or stream.

This past weekend, my friends and I made it to a girls’ weekend that we had planned six months ago. In addition to enjoying time together, we rode bikes, and found ourselves fascinated with the nature around us. A resident golden silk spider led the way to discovering many, many more, just by looking up. And butterflies were everywhere; we had fun trying to follow them.

If I allow myself to pause for a second outside, I notice that I have just as much curiosity about nature as my children do. And I appreciate the stress-relief that comes for me when I step outside and look at the sky or look closer at the trees. Time with my kids outside becomes time for me too, and while finding our routine in the hectic pace of school year, I’ll be sure to fit in time outside every day, for us all.

Rebecca P. Cohen is Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, is a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to be outside and improve their well being. For her weekly online video series, “Get Out of the House” as well as Starla J. King’s guest blog series “Savoring Summer,” visit http://www.rebeccaplants.com.

One summer evening, after doing a live radio show in downtown Philadelphia, my husband and I chatted with the show’s host on the sidewalk in front of the station building. It was 9 p.m. on a hot night and the traffic was whizzing by on this busy city street–no grass or plant life for blocks. Yet, as we chatted, I noticed a praying mantis on the side of the building. We were all surprised to see it.

On a September morning in Central Park in Manhattan, while doing a photo shoot for one of my books, I found myself surrounded by hundreds of common green darners (dragonflies). They were migrating right through the park! And at the intersection of 30th and Market Streets in Philadelphia, I spied a bald eagle soaring overhead! No kidding!

City streets, buildings, and parking lots act like heat collectors, making cities warmer than their surrounding areas. The warmer climate allows some species to thrive because they can bloom or lay their eggs earlier. We’ve all seen pigeons, gulls, and starlings in cities but have you noticed any peregrine falcons, red-tailed hawks, or cormorants? How about butterflies and moths, or rabbits and squirrels?

Here’s a helpful list of places to look and the nature to look for the next time you’re in a North American city:

• Bridges, buildings and rooftops provide shelter and nesting sites for birds.
• Lights (flood lights, streetlights, building lights) attract insects and insect eaters.
• Parking lots attract gulls, sparrows, starlings, and crows and you can often seen wildflowers growing near the blacktop.
• Signs and letters on sides of buildings make attractive nesting sites for house sparrows.
• Windowsills and window air conditioners are popular places for mourning doves to nest.
• Street lights and traffic lights are good perches for birds to rest or watch for road kill or other food sources.
• Trees provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for birds, mammals, insects, and even reptiles.
• Bushes are great hiding and nesting sites for birds. Berry-bearing bushes provide food for berry-eating animals.
• Ponds, lakes, and rivers are great places to see reptiles and amphibians (such as turtles, frogs, and snakes), fish, wading and diving birds, gulls, and dragonflies.
• Lawns and gardens attract butterflies, bees, beetles, and other insects.
• Grassy areas attract for mammals such as rabbits, squirrels, and deer.
• Abandoned lots attract many kinds of insects and animals and are good places for plants to set root.

The next time you take your children to the city, notice the nature around you. If you live in an urban area, teach your children–and remind yourself–to observe the plants and animals you may not ordinarily notice.

See you in the outdoors!

P.S. If you want to find out more about nature in the city, check out my book, Take a City Nature Walk.

Jane Kirkland is the award-winning author of the “Take A Walk®” series of nature discovery books as well as “No Student Left Indoors: Creating a Field Guide to Your Schoolyard”, the acclaimed educator’s guide to helping students discover nature in their schoolyard. To learn more about Jane and her books visit: www.takeawalk.com.

The Easter Bunny is getting ready for his big day this Sunday, but did you know that the original “bunny” was actually a hare? Hares are a close relative of rabbits but have a few key differences:

• There are many species of rabbits and hares, but generally, hares tend to have longer legs and larger ears and are generally bigger than rabbits. The snowshoe hare is an exception with its small ears that help prevent heat loss. Large ears have more surface area and lose more heat.
• Hares are incredibly swift and run from predators, while rabbits typically hide first, relying on camouflage, and only run as a last resort.
• Hares give birth to precocial young which means their babies are born covered in fur, have open eyes, and are ready to run shortly after birth. Rabbit babies are furless, blind and helpless at birth.

Jackrabbits are actually a type of hare. Find out more amazing Easter Bunny trivia and rabbit facts at enature.com.