A list of databases and reference websites about wildlife for students
Great Places to Start
- The National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Guide is a great starting place to browse through animals by category: https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide
- San Diego Zoo Kids has info about many animals: https://kids.sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/
- National Geographic Kids has info about some animal species too: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals
- The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute website has many animals to browse through: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/list
Wildlife by U.S. State
- Looking for an animal from your area? Try starting with your area’s Parks and Wildlife or Department or Natural Resources website. Many have species profiles or animal fact sheets. State Government wildlife websites for U.S. States are linked below:
- Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Watchable Wildlife Website: https://www.outdooralabama.com/watchable-wildlife
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=animals.main
- **Arizona Fish and Game: https://www.azgfd.com/Wildlife/NonGameManagement/
- **Arkansas Game and Fish Commission: https://www.agfc.com/en/
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife: https://www.agfcnaturecenter.com/category/arkansas-wildlife/
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife species profiles: https://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/SpeciesProfiles.aspx
- Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Wildlife Fact Sheets: https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Wildlife/Learn-About-Wildlife/Wildlife-Fact-Sheets
- **Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife: https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/fish-wildlife/
- Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resource Division has information on species: https://georgiawildlife.com/species
- Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission species profiles: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/
- Hawaii DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s wildlife programs: https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/wildlife/
- **Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office’s list of Idaho’s endangered species: https://www.fws.gov/idaho/
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources has species information by category: https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/education/Pages/WildAboutPages.aspx
- Indiana Department of Natural Resources animal profiles: https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife-resources/animals/
- Iowa Department of Natural Resources – scroll to the bottom of the page to browse wildlife fact sheets: https://www.iowadnr.gov/Conservation/Iowas-Wildlife
- **Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks: https://ksoutdoors.com/
- Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources has information on select species: https://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Wildlife-Species.aspx
- Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries species field guide: https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/species
- Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has species information by category: https://www.maine.gov/ifw/fish-wildlife/wildlife/species-information/index.html
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources has links to profiles for Maryland’s wildlife species: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/pages/plants_wildlife/mdwllists.aspx
- Massachusetts Wildlife Library: https://www.mass.gov/lists/massachusetts-wildlife-library
- Michigan DNR – learn about Michigan’s species: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-350-79135_79218—,00.html
- Minnesota DNR – animals: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/animals/index.html
- **Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks: https://www.mdwfp.com/
- Missouri Department of Conservation – Field Guide: https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide
- Montana Field Guides: http://fieldguide.mt.gov/displayClasses.aspx?Kingdom=Animalia
- Nebraska Watchable Wildlife Guides has wildlife info grouped by ecoregion: http://outdoornebraska.gov/wildlifeguides/
- Nevada Department of Wildlife: http://www.ndow.org/Nevada_Wildlife/Animals/
- New Hampshire Fish and Game – wildlife fact sheets: https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/wildlife/profiles.html
- **New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Website – if you scroll to the bottom there are links for information on a few select game species: https://www.nj.gov/dep/fgw/wildlife.htm
- New Mexico Game and Fish – wildlife species information: https://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/wildlife-species-information/
- **New York Department of Environmental Conservation has species profiles for select animals: https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/55430.html
- North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission has species profiles by category: https://www.ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species
- North Dakota Fish and Game – species information: https://gf.nd.gov/wildlife/id
- Ohio DNR – browse animals by category: https://ohiodnr.gov/wps/portal/gov/odnr/discover-and-learn/animals/mammals
- Oklahoma Wildlife Department field guide: https://www.wildlifedepartment.com/wildlife/field-guide/all
- Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife – browse animals by category: https://myodfw.com/wildlife-viewing/species/mammals
- Pennsylvania Game Commission – wildlife species: https://www.pgc.pa.gov/Wildlife/WildlifeSpecies/Pages/default.aspx
- Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management – wildlife fact sheets: http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/fish-wildlife/wildlifehuntered/wildlifemanagement/index.php
- South Carolina DNR wildlife species: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/species.html
- **South Dakota Game, Fish, and Parks website: https://gfp.sd.gov/
- Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has links to info on different watchable wildlife: https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife.html
- Texas Parks and Wildlife – wildlife fact sheets: https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/
- Utah Division of Fish and Wildlife – browse animals by category: https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/SearchSelection.asp?Group=MAMMALIA&Species=VERT
- Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department – browse critters by category: https://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/vermont-critters/
- **Virginia DWR has select wildlife info: https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/wildlife-information/
- Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife lets you search species by common or scientific name: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species
- West Virginia DNR – browse native species by category: https://wvdnr.gov/plants-animals/
- **Wisconsin DNR – information on select animal species: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/Wisconsin_animals
- **Wyoming Game and Fish Department – view species information for large carnivore or non game wildlife: https://wgfd.wyo.gov/wildlife-in-wyoming
**Some state government websites do not have wildlife species information or only provide information for certain select species, such as game animals.
Bird Websites
- The Audubon website’s search bar can help you find info on many different birds: https://www.audubon.org/
- Cornell’s All About Birds is another great website for info on birds: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/
- USGS’s Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter has information to help identify North American birds: https://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html
More Advanced Databases
- Bucknell University’s Mammal Species of the World lets you search for mammals by scientific name: https://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/
- The Reptile Database: http://www.reptile-database.org/
- AmphibiaWeb, an amphibian database where you can search by scientific name, family, order, etc.: https://amphibiaweb.org/
- TroutNut has a list of aquatic insects by common name: http://www.troutnut.com/common-names
Additional Resources
- The U.S. Department of the Interior website has its own list of animals and wildlife databases: https://www.doi.gov/library/internet/animals
