MDC

This large, ground-nesting sparrow is listed as Endangered in Missouri, where its historic habitat is in decline.

For bird watchers, locating warblers among the treetops is difficult because their yellow colors blend in with a multitude of sunlit leaves. This warbler, however, is difficult to spot because its blue blends in with the sky! Learn more about this rare and declining migratory species.

There are two species of skunks in Missouri, the more familiar striped skunk and the lesser-known spotted skunk. The spotted skunk is also called a civet cat, but this name is misleading and incorrect because this mammal is not closely related to the true civets of the Old World or to cats.

Today found only in the Meramec River, the elephantear has been classified as Endangered in Missouri and is a candidate for federal Endangered status.

Also known as "Earth fruit" and "Tiny Tim," this minute, inconspicuous plant is found almost exclusively on sandstone glade outcrops.

This rare bird breeds in select grasslands in the spring, filling the air with their unusual booming calls. With their numbers dwindling, prairie-chickens need strong conservation support.

Our state flower, the hawthorn, is solidly represented in Missouri. There are about 100 different kinds of hawthorn that occupy almost every kind of soil in every part of the state. A member of the rose family, it is closely related to the apple.

Indiana bats summer along streams and rivers in north Missouri, raising their young under bark of certain trees. They are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Missouri.

Originally, this water bird lived on islands, beaches and sandbars in big rivers, but as these areas have become rare, least terns have been forced to “make do” with dredge islands, dikefields, sandpits and gravel roads atop levees. Because of their habitat loss, they are now endangered.

This endangered plant once flourished in the tallgrass prairies of the Midwestern United States, including most of Missouri.

This small, yellow-flowered member of the mustard family is found only in southwest Missouri. It gets its name from the spherical fruits or "bladders" that contain seeds.

Two small, jet-black spots at the base of the tail fin distinguish this small fish from the more than 30 other darters found in our state. Known from only a few tributaries of the Osage River, this dainty and colorful fish is a nationally threatened species.

Similar to shovelnose sturgeon, but with a longer and more pointed snout. Bases of the inner barbels are weakly fringed, and the base of an inner barbel is less than half the width of the base of an outer barbel.

The fastest living animal, this bird can dive at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour! It is currently being reintroduced to the state in urban areas, where skyscrapers replace the cliffs it traditionally nested on.

Also called Southern spicebush, this endangered plant is a medium-sized shrub that grows in swampy depressions in lowland forests. In Missouri, only one population occurs, and it is located in southern Ripley County

Rarely seen, this Endangered freshwater mussel has a thin and delicate shell that is strikingly beautiful inside.

The snuffbox has been classified as Endangered in Missouri and is a candidate for federal Endangered status. Perhaps it should also be a candidate for a new common name, since the popularity of snuff-taking is long past.

A small, secretive, shiny snake that is highly variable in color. It can be gray, brown, orange or even red with or without dark bands, and it has a plain white or cream colored belly with dark transverse bars on the tail.

This showy fringed orchid of Missouri’s western prairies is endangered and known only from a few northwestern locations. Learn why this native wildflower is special, and why it’s so important to preserve our remaining tallgrass prairies.

This is a small, dark-colored, semi-aquatic turtle with a restricted range and is considered an endangered species in Missouri.