The Animals Of Oklahoma

Section 01

Eleven Ecoregions In One State

Oklahoma packs more distinct ecological regions into its borders than almost any state of its size. Ecologists commonly count around eleven, running from cypress swamp in the southeast corner to shortgrass prairie and mesa country in the panhandle, roughly 700 miles apart.

The gradient is driven by rainfall. The southeast receives over 50 inches a year and supports pine and hardwood forest that belongs to the Deep South. The panhandle gets under 17 inches and is functionally part of the high plains. Between them lie the Cross Timbers, a distinctive band of stunted post oak and blackjack oak that early travellers described as almost impassable, plus tallgrass prairie in the northeast and gypsum hills in the west.

That variety means Oklahoma sits at the range limit of a remarkable number of species. Eastern animals reach their western edge here and western animals their eastern edge, which is why the state's bird and reptile lists are longer than its size suggests.

The state's flagship conservation site is the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Osage County, nearly 40,000 acres where bison were reintroduced in 1993 and are managed with fire to restore the grazing and burning pattern that built the prairie. Combined with the Flint Hills across the Kansas line, it forms the largest protected tallgrass landscape remaining.

Section 02

Oklahoma's Official State Animals

The scissor-tailed flycatcher is one of the better state bird choices in the country. Males have tail streamers longer than their bodies and perform an aerial display known as the sky dance, climbing and tumbling with the tail scissoring open. Oklahoma sits at the centre of its breeding range.

Section 03

Habitats By Region, And Who Lives In Each

1. Ouachita Mountains and southeastern forest

Pine and hardwood on east-west folded ridges, with over 50 inches of rain a year. Black bears recolonised here from Arkansas restocking, and the region holds timber rattlesnake, cottonmouth, red-cockaded woodpecker in managed pine, and an exceptional salamander fauna including the Ouachita dusky and Rich Mountain salamanders.

2. Little River bottoms and cypress swamp

The far southeast corner holds bald cypress swamp and bottomland hardwood at the western edge of that habitat type. American alligators reach their northwestern limit here, along with swamp rabbit, bird-voiced treefrog, and alligator snapping turtle.

3. Ozark Plateau, northeast

Limestone hills, caves, and clear spring-fed streams shared with Arkansas and Missouri. Ozark cavefish, gray bats, Ozark big-eared bat (endemic to a small area and federally endangered), and smallmouth bass in the streams. See Ozark Mountains.

4. Tallgrass prairie and Osage Hills

The southern end of the Flint Hills tallgrass, including the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve with its bison herd. Greater prairie-chicken, Henslow's sparrow, upland sandpiper, regal fritillary, and prairie mole cricket. Related: state parks where bison still roam.

5. Cross Timbers and central Oklahoma

A band of stunted post oak and blackjack oak on sandy soils, historically a barrier to westward travel. It supports an unusual mix of forest and prairie species, and some of the oldest trees in the region grow here, with post oaks over 300 years old surviving because the wood was worthless for timber.

6. Wichita Mountains and gypsum hills

Granite outcrops rising from prairie in the southwest, holding a free-ranging bison herd, elk, Texas longhorn, prairie dogs, and collared lizards. The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge was established in 1901 and received bison from the Bronx Zoo in 1907 in one of the first deliberate wildlife restorations in American history. Gypsum caves in the northwest hold large bat colonies.

7. High plains and panhandle

Shortgrass prairie, sand sagebrush, and mesas in the far west. Lesser prairie-chicken, pronghorn, swift fox, black-tailed prairie dog, burrowing owl, and Texas horned lizard.

Section 04

Mammals Of Oklahoma

• American bison: the state animal. The Wichita Mountains herd descends from Bronx Zoo animals shipped by rail in 1907, and the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve herd was established in 1993. Both are managed rather than unbounded, but they graze free-ranging within large areas.
• White-tailed deer: abundant statewide after restocking, plus mule deer in the panhandle.
• Elk: extirpated and reintroduced, with herds in the Wichita Mountains and a free-ranging population in the southwest and northeast.
• Black bear: recolonised southeastern Oklahoma from Arkansas restocking and now supports a limited hunting season, one of the clearest cases of a recovery crossing state lines.
• Mountain lion: no confirmed breeding population, but Oklahoma verifies dispersing individuals regularly, mostly young males from Colorado, New Mexico, and the Black Hills.
• Bobcat, coyote, swift fox, red and gray fox, badger, river otter (recovering in the east), mink, beaver, raccoon, opossum, armadillo, spotted and striped skunk: all present. Raccoon is the state furbearer, reflecting a long trapping tradition.
• Black-tailed prairie dog: colonies in the west, much reduced from historic extent.
• Bats: 23 species. The Ozark big-eared bat is endemic to a small area of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri and is federally endangered. Selman Bat Cave in the northwest holds a maternity colony of roughly a million Brazilian free-tailed bats, and the state runs public viewing events. See where bats live.

Gone: gray wolf, red wolf, and grizzly bear. Red wolves were native to eastern Oklahoma and are among the species the state lost entirely.

Section 05

Birds Of Oklahoma

More than 480 species have been recorded, a very high total driven by the state's position where eastern, western, and southern avifaunas meet.

• Scissor-tailed flycatcher: the state bird, common on roadside wires in summer and gathering in large pre-migration roosts in late summer.
• Prairie grouse: greater prairie-chicken in the northeast tallgrass and lesser prairie-chicken in the western sand sagebrush, the latter having lost much of its range and been the subject of repeated federal listing litigation.
• Waterbirds: Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge holds nesting interior least terns, snowy plovers, and American avocets on salt flats, plus enormous autumn concentrations of snow geese and sandhill cranes. Whooping cranes pass through on migration.
• Southeastern species: red-cockaded woodpecker, Bachman's sparrow, prothonotary and Swainson's warblers in the Ouachita and Little River country.
• Western species: Cassin's sparrow, scaled quail, curve-billed thrasher, and Chihuahuan raven in the panhandle.
• Raptors: bald eagle nesting and wintering along reservoirs, plus Mississippi kite, which nests commonly in Oklahoma towns and dives at people near nests each summer.

Section 06

Reptiles, Amphibians, And Fish

Oklahoma has around 94 reptile and 60 amphibian species, one of the higher combined totals in the country.

Snakes: about 46 species, seven venomous: copperhead, cottonmouth, western diamondback rattlesnake, timber rattlesnake, prairie rattlesnake, western massasauga, and western pygmy rattlesnake. Oklahoma also holds rattlesnake roundups, which remain controversial for their effects on populations and on the gopher tortoise burrows and rock crevices gassed to extract snakes.

Lizards and turtles: collared lizard is the state reptile, plus Texas horned lizard, which has declined from fire ant impacts on its harvester ant food supply, six-lined racerunner, and several skinks. Turtles include alligator snapping turtle, ornate box turtle, three-toed box turtle, and map turtles.

Amphibians: Ouachita and Ozark salamanders in the east, including the Oklahoma salamander and the many-ribbed salamander, plus crawfish frog, plains spadefoot, and Great Plains narrowmouth toad. The eastern forests and the western plains produce very different amphibian communities.

Fish: roughly 175 species. White bass is the state fish. The Ozark and Ouachita streams hold a rich darter fauna, the Arkansas River shiner is federally threatened, and the leopard darter of the Little River basin is federally threatened and found in only a few streams. Paddlefish in the Grand and Neosho rivers support a managed snagging fishery with a research programme attached.

Section 07

Dangerous Animals In Oklahoma

• Venomous snakes: seven species, the most of any state covered so far outside Arizona and Texas. Copperheads cause most bites, western diamondbacks the most serious ones.
• White-tailed deer: thousands of vehicle collisions annually.
• Brown recluse spider: Oklahoma is near the centre of this species' range and it is very common in homes, along with black widows.
• Ticks: Oklahoma consistently reports among the highest rates of tick-borne disease in the country, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, and alpha-gal syndrome from lone star ticks.
• Bison: relevant at the Wichita Mountains and Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, where they roam near roads and trails. They injure more people in US parks than bears do.
• Africanized honeybees and fire ants: both established in the south, and stinging insects cause the most animal-related deaths.
• Severe weather: worth stating plainly. Tornadoes and lightning cause vastly more harm in Oklahoma than any animal.

Section 08

Endangered And Protected Species

Oklahoma's pressures vary by region. In the west, groundwater depletion from the Ogallala dries prairie streams, and sand sagebrush conversion and energy development fragment lesser prairie-chicken range. In the east, reservoir construction and sedimentation have hit river mussels and darters hard. Statewide, eastern redcedar encroachment into unburned grassland is converting prairie to woodland at a rapid rate, which is one of the more significant and least visible habitat changes in the region. Fire ants have reduced harvester ants, which the Texas horned lizard depends on almost entirely.

Section 09

Where To See Wildlife In Oklahoma

• Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge: free-ranging bison, elk, longhorn, prairie dogs, and collared lizards on granite outcrops.
• Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Osage County: bison on nearly 40,000 acres of tallgrass managed with fire.
• Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge: nesting terns and plovers on salt flats, plus huge autumn goose and crane numbers.
• Ouachita National Forest and Beavers Bend: black bear range, salamanders, and southeastern forest birds.
• Little River National Wildlife Refuge: cypress swamp and alligators at their northwestern limit.
• Selman Bat Cave: roughly a million Brazilian free-tailed bats, viewable through state-run summer events by reservation.
• Black Mesa, panhandle: the state's highest point, with western species found nowhere else in Oklahoma.
• Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge: wintering eagles and waterfowl on the Arkansas River.