Feature Fauna Fact Sheets

2025-12-05

Adult wingspan is 53–90mm. Adults (butterflies) are yellow with thick black bands coming down from the top of the forewing and some black lines/veins across the hind wings. There are thick black bands along the edge of both the forewing and hind wing, with yellow spots along the forewing and yellow and orange spots on the jagged hind wing. There is a softer band of blue patches on the hind wing. Near the bottom of the hind wing is an extension that, when you look at both wings together, resemble the long, forked tails of some swallows. <p> Young (larvae/caterpillars), when immature, are brown and white and resemble bird droppings. Older caterpillars are large and green. Their body is fatter just behind the head and has two yellowish spots that look like eyes and a yellow band farther back, giving the impression of a much larger head, which is thought to deter predators. </p>

2025-12-05

The caribou is well adapted to its environment. Its short, stocky body conserves heat, its long legs help it move through snow, and its long dense winter coat provides effective insulation, even during periods of low temperature and high wind. The muzzle and tail are short and well haired.

2025-12-05

Cedar Waxwings are creamy yellow below, have light brown colouring on their heads and upper backs, grey on their lower backs and wings and a black mask across the top of their bills that extends around their eyes. They also have feathers on their heads that form a crest. They have a bright yellow band at the end of their tails. Sometimes you can see a thin red strip on the edge of their secondary wing feathers.

2025-12-05

Approximately 8–11 mm long. All-over colour is dark blue, green-blue or purple. The elytra (wings) have three crossbands that can be yellow, orange or red. All checkered beetles (family <em>Cleridae</em>) have a wide head and a long, narrow body with a short thorax and a long abdomen. They have long hairs along their bodies and legs, which pollen can stick onto.

2025-12-05

Chipmunks are easily recognized by the light and dark stripes on the back and head. They can be confused with some of the striped ground squirrels, but chipmunks are smaller, and have facial markings and five dark stripes on their backs, including a distinct, central line that extends forward onto the head. Ground squirrels do not have markings on the head.

2025-12-05

Garter snakes are typically 60 centimetres long. While their colouring varies greatly, they are generally recognized by a dark body with three light-coloured stripes down their back and sides (usually shades of yellow, red or orange). Some have speckled markings along the lighter coloured stripes and some small populations are all dark with no stripes.

2025-12-05

At only 11-14 cm, the common redpoll is a small bird. A member of the finch family, this streaked bird can be difficult to distinguish from pine siskins. Redpolls are named for their red forehead but this is not always obvious, so look instead for the black patch on their chin to recognize them. To identify the sex of common redpolls look for the slight tinge of rose on the breasts of the males.

2025-12-05

The Snapping Turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in Canada. It is distinguished by its large head, hooked upper jaws and long tail. Its upper shell has a serrated rear edge. The tail has triangular scales (“spikes”) that protrude from the top.

2025-12-05

Dark-eyed juncos vary geographically in terms of their colouration. Depending on the region, the backs and sides of dark-eyed juncos can vary from dark grey to reddish-brown. In all regions, however, adults can typically be identified by their dark grey to black coloured head and breast (known as their hood), white outer tail feathers and white undersides. Females are typically smaller than males and are often lighter in colour. Juveniles differ markedly from adults with their streaked appearance and brownish plumage. Dark-eyed juncos can be identified by their sounds as well. Their most familiar call is a musical trill that’s performed on the same pitch. Depending on predation, dark-eyed juncos typically live anywhere from three to 11 years in the wild. Their common predators are hawks, owls, cats, squirrels, chipmunks and weasels.

2025-12-05

Medium to large (10-18mm). Digger bees have generally light-colored hairs on their thorax and dark abdomen sometimes stripped with white hair bands. One common species Anthophora terminalis, has orange hairs on the tip of their abdomen. Male digger bees typically have pale patches on their faces.