U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

Great-horned owls are widespread across most of North America (and much of South America as well), which means that you could see them nesting in the boreal forests of Canada OR nestled in the arms of an ancient saguaro cactus in the Sonoran Desert. Photo: Mick Thompson, CC BY-NC 2.0 flic.kr/p/HnnvRx

Word of the day: Bioturbation Vernal pool tadpole shrimp use their 30 pairs of legs (which also function as gills) to dig for food at the bottom of vernal pools. What's on the menu? Small plants, waste from other vernal pool species, as well as other invertebrates — yum! While researchers thought that the vernal pool tadpole shrimp preferred murky water, recent research from Sacramento State University links this digging behavior, called bioturbation, to the murkiness of the pool. Vernal pools come to life in the spring and contain many tiny species like this endangered tadpole shrimp. If you are near a vernal pool, try your best to keep the pool undisturbed. As the pools dry out, eggs from the tadpole shrimp and other fairy shrimp species get buried in the dirt. When the pools fill again in the winter, the eggs will hatch giving life to a new generation! Video of vernal pool tadpole shrimp foraging in a vernal pool courtesy of Olivia Petrunich

Happy Monday! It's time to catch the latest podcast episode of Fish of the Week! Katrina and Guy dig into one of America's catfish groups: the bullheads! Learn how to find and identify these fish, and get hyped to complete the bullhead slam by catching all seven species: black, brown, yellow, white, flat, spotted, and snail. Get out there and live with, live from, discover and enjoy #AllTheFish (🔗in comments) 🐟🎣 Black Bullhead 📷 Sam Stukel/USFWS

Welcome to spring turkey season, where hunters walk around making noises that would get them kicked out of most dinner parties. Wild turkeys have almost 30 different sounds. Here's a list of their most used lines. Cluck: A short, soft sound. Usually means, “Hey, I’m here” or “Something caught my attention.” Yelp: A series of vocalizations that say, “Where are you?” or “Come over here.” Hens use this to keep in touch with other turkeys, especially during mating season. Cutt: A louder, more aggressive version of the yelp. It means, “I’m excited or agitated.” Hens often cutt when they're fired up and looking for company. Purr: A soft rolling sound. Can mean, “I’m content,” but if it’s mixed with clucks, it could mean “Back off.” Gobble: A loud, unmistakable call. This is mostly made by toms (male turkeys) in spring, and it basically says, “I’m over here, ladies,” or “Other toms, stay back.” If you're heading out this season, good luck. May your yelps be convincing, your gobbles be answered, and your socks stay dry. Here's to another spring of responsible hunting! Photo courtesy of R3 photo collection

Join us as Jeff Corwin and partners meet our incredible condor team who’s leading efforts to restore the California condor population, a species once on the brink of extinction. #ExtraordinaryWorld Video description: Jeff Corwin and team walk into the condor holding pen. A condor flies over them and is moved in into a smaller holding pen. The team then handles the condor and moves forward with the health check. Video courtesy of Extraordinary World and the Brady Hunter Foundation

Vigilance is a tree swallow protecting its nest. This small songbird with iridescent wings leaves no direction unchecked from atop its bird box in southwest Washington. USFWS video: Typhanie Shepherd Music: Woodward, Pond5 Video Description: Vertical video of a slim blue and white bird flying into frame and landing on a wooden birdhouse, then feverishly looking in all directions.

Since 2012, our Lodi Fish and Wildlife Office has been tagging and monitoring white sturgeon to track their movements in the San Joaquin River and throughout California. We capture sturgeon and implant acoustic tags to monitor their locations. This tracking helps us understand when and where they spawn, as well as identify potential barriers to their migration. The information we gather supports efforts to protect and restore conditions and habitats conducive to sturgeon spawning and highlights areas where fish passage improvements are needed. Additionally, we collect tissue samples for our partners, who use geochemistry to create a timeline of habitat use throughout the sturgeon’s life and to conduct genetic analyses for a better understanding of white sturgeon demographics. Photos 1 by Gabi Dunn/USFWS Photo 2 by Gabi Garcia/USFWS Photo 3 by net setting photo by Geoff Steinhart/USFWS Photo 4 by Paul Cadrett/USFWS

Straddling the Arctic Circle in Alaska is the 1.6 million acre Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, home to both impressive dragonflies and dazzling damselflies! The Refuge is one of the top areas for dragonfly diversity, with 26 species documented to date, thanks to the abundant wetlands that support them. Here, both damselflies and dragonflies spend the majority of their lives under water where they predate on aquatic insects—and occasionally small fish. Adults only get a handful of weeks to months of flying time before the seasons turn and crash the party. During that time, they're clearing the skies of mosquitos and other insects faster than you're clearing your inbox on a Friday afternoon ;). ⭐ Into it? Know a young nature enthusiast? They're welcome to join Virtual Youth Fish and Wildlife Club (VYFWC) on Wednesday, April 9: Dragons and Damsels Take Flight! Learn more at the link in the comments. 📸 USFWS

🔮What do you see in the orb? A tiny green but translucent orb rests on a sandy beach surrounded by sharp quartz grains of sand. You look closer. Within the orb, cloud-like movement swirls. As the movement within the orb continues, legs and the structures of a living creature begin to appear. The orb is an egg. The video transitions to a new shot of the same beach but now there are five eggs at different stages of hatching. In two of the eggs, the legs of the creatures inside churn and swirl. One of the eggs has just hatched and the tiny translucent creature begins to unfold, revealing a body that has two domed sections hinged together. The creatures emerging from the eggs are now recognizable as tiny horseshoe crabs. In the final shot a single horseshoe crab hatchling gently folds and unfolds its soft green body as it experiences the first moments of life on earth. Horseshoe crabs are not true crabs; they are more closely related to spiders and scorpions. But their distinctive shape has been unchanged for over 400 million years. Before the dinosaurs went extinct, horseshoe crabs were here - swimming in the ancient oceans and hatching on the ancient beaches of our world. Isn't nature awesome? Video courtesy of Heidi Cleven

Sending turtles to school! Read how students in Pennsylvania are giving turtles a head-start and protecting local wildlife. https://lnkd.in/gwiUvuxN