Critters

This page was last updated on 17 May, 2024.
It will continue to be updated as time allows, which will be slow going.

  • ant
  • aphid
  • assassin bug
  • bat
    • large brown
    • small brown
  • bear
    • black bear Ursus americanus
  •  bee
    • bumblebee
      • Golden Northern Bombus fervidus
    • carpenter bee
    • honeybee
    • mason bee
  • beetle
    • leaf beetle Calligrapha rowena
    • Twice-stabbed lady beetle Chilocorus stigma
  •  bird
    • blackbird
      • redwing blackbird
    • bluebird
      • eastern bluebird Sialia sialis
    • cardinal
    • chickadee
      • Black-capped chickadee  [MA state bird]
    • crow
    •  dove
      • mourning dove
    • goldfinch
    • hawk
      • red-tail hawk Buteo jamaicensis
    • hummingbird
      • ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris
    • jay
      • blue jay
    • junco
      • dark-eyed (slate-colored)
    • nuthatch
      • red-breasted nuthatch
    • raven
    • robin
    • sparrow
      • American tree sparrow Spizella arborea
      • chipping sparrow Spizella passerina
    • titmouse
      • tufted titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
    • warbler
      • yellow-rumped warbler Setophaga coronata
    •  woodpecker
      • pilated woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
    • wren
  • butterfly
    • monarch Danaus plexippus
    • painted lady Vanessa cardui
    •  swallowtail
      • eastern black swallowtail Papilio polyxenes
      • eastern tiger swallowtail Papilio glaucus
  • caterpillar (see: moth and butterfly)
  • chipmunk
  • coyote
  • cricket
  • damselfly
  • dragonfly
    • Common whitetail Plathemis lydia
  • earwig
  • firefly
  • fox
  • fly
    • tachnid fly
  • grasshopper
  • groundhog
  • hornet
    • bald faced (just one, thankfully)
  • katydid
  • leaf hopper
  • moth
    • cabbage Mamestra brassicae
    • eastern tent Malacosoma americanum
    • spongy moth Lymantria dispar (formerly known as the gypsy)
    • hummingbird clearwing Hemaris thysbe
    • hummingbird snowberry Hemaris diffinis
    • luna Actias luna
    • milkweed tussock Euchaetes egle
  • mouse
  • shrew
  • skunk
    • striped skunk Mephitis mephitis nigra
  • slug
  • snail
  • spider
    • crab spider
  • squirrel
    • Eastern gray squirrel Sciurus carolinensis
  • true bug
    • milkweed bug
  • wasp
    • solitary
    • yellowjacket

General Notes: This WIP list does not include every critter I’ve seen since 2017, as I am not an expert at critter identification.  I work on this list as time allows, and it does get reorganized as I try to find a best practices for how to structure this list.  I’m relying mostly on web ID sites and a few books I have.  If you see any errors, I would appreciate it if you would kindly contact me with a link or a publication name with specific info so I can be better informed.

I plan to add sub pages over time for each as I learn more about them.   When that happens, their name will turn into a link to that page.  The monarchs will be the first to get such a sub page.  What I really hope for is to do a thumbnail gallery eventually, but that is much further down the road of possibility due to time constraints.

Care to share thoughts on this?