World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/flamingo): Flamingo — wildlife guide.

## The six species and where they live
The greater flamingo, the largest and most widespread, ranges across Africa, southern Europe and Asia, while the American (Caribbean) flamingo is the brightest and lives around the Caribbean and Galapagos. The Chilean flamingo occupies temperate South America. Three high-altitude specialists, the lesser flamingo of Africa and South Asia plus the Andean and James's (puna) flamingos of the South American altiplano, breed on remote salt lakes. The lesser flamingo is the most numerous overall yet depends on very few breeding lakes, which leaves it sensitive to disturbance and habitat change.

## Breeding and raising chicks
Flamingos are highly social and nest in dense colonies, sometimes tens of thousands of pairs strong. Each pair builds a cone-shaped mud nest and lays a single egg, which both parents take turns incubating for roughly 27 to 31 days. The newly hatched chick is grey with a straight bill that curves only as it grows. Both parents feed it a nutritious 'crop milk' secreted in the upper digestive tract; this red-tinted fluid is rich in fat and protein. Within weeks chicks gather into large groups called creches, watched by a few adults, while parents leave to feed.

## WARN work
The World Animal Rescue Network does not currently fund flamingo conservation. Flamingos are a globally distributed group, while WARN's funded field projects are focused on partner-network countries (its partner-network countries). We publish this guide as free educational and search-friendly content that supports WARN's broader mission of raising awareness for wildlife and the habitats they depend on. The wetlands and saline lakes flamingos rely on are exactly the kind of ecosystems WARN's habitat work aims to protect, and learning about flamingos helps build the global understanding that underpins all conservation.

## Donation hook
Flamingos depend on healthy wetlands and saline lakes, the same fragile habitats that wildlife everywhere rely on. WARN does not yet fund flamingo-specific projects, but your gift to our habitat protection appeal supports the broader work of safeguarding the wild places animals need to survive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/flamingo): Flamingo — wildlife guide.

## How many species of flamingo are there?
There are six living species of flamingo in the family Phoenicopteridae: the greater, lesser, American (Caribbean), Chilean, Andean and James's (puna) flamingos.

## Why are flamingos pink?
Flamingos are pink because of carotenoid pigments in their food. They eat algae and small crustaceans such as brine shrimp that are rich in carotenoids, then deposit those pigments in their feathers, skin and bill. Without this diet their colour fades.

## What do flamingos eat and how do they feed?
Flamingos are filter feeders. They hold the bill upside down in shallow water and use comb-like plates called lamellae to strain out algae, diatoms, small crustaceans, seeds and aquatic invertebrates while letting water and mud pass through.

## What is a group of flamingos called?
A group of flamingos is most often called a flamboyance. They are also sometimes called a stand or a colony.

## How long do flamingos live?
In the wild flamingos typically live around 30 to 40 years. In captivity they can live much longer, with one famous greater flamingo reaching an age in its 80s.

## Are flamingos endangered?
Most flamingos are not endangered, but status varies by species. The greater and American flamingos are Least Concern, the Chilean, lesser and James's flamingos are Near Threatened, and the Andean flamingo is Vulnerable with a declining population.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A hedgehog is a small spiny insectivorous mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae; there are 17 species across Europe, Asia and Africa, and the widespread European hedgehog was listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after sharp declines.

## Introduction
Hedgehogs are small, spine-covered mammals that have shuffled through gardens, hedgerows and woodlands for tens of millions of years. The group is not a single species but a subfamily, Erinaceinae, of 17 species spread across Europe, Asia and Africa. All share the same signature defence: a coat of thousands of stiff spines and the ability to curl into a near-impregnable ball. Despite that armour, hedgehogs face mounting pressure from people. The familiar European hedgehog, once considered common, was reclassified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after steep declines linked to roads, pesticides, habitat loss and everyday garden hazards. This guide answers the most-searched questions about hedgehogs and explains why their numbers are falling.

## Takeaway
Hedgehogs are not one species but a group of 17, united by their spines and curl-up defence.

## Takeaway
They are insectivores at heart, eating beetles, earthworms, slugs, caterpillars and other invertebrates.

## Takeaway
Spines are modified hairs without barbs, so unlike a porcupine a hedgehog cannot shoot or shed them at will.

## Takeaway
The European hedgehog was moved to Near Threatened in 2024 after declines approaching or exceeding 30% in a decade.

## Takeaway
Roads, pesticides that wipe out prey, tidy fenced gardens and hazards like strimmers and netting are major killers.

## Takeaway
Simple garden help, such as hedgehog-sized gaps in fences and avoiding slug pellets, can make a real difference.

## What is a hedgehog?
A hedgehog is a small mammal belonging to the subfamily Erinaceinae, within the family Erinaceidae. Scientists recognise 17 species split across five genera: Erinaceus, Atelerix, Hemiechinus, Mesechinus and Paraechinus. They live naturally across Europe, Asia and Africa, and were introduced to New Zealand by people; none are native to the Americas or Australia. The most familiar is the European or West European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus. Every species shares a coat of spines, modified hairs stiffened with keratin, and most can roll into a tight ball when threatened, presenting a predator with nothing but points. Adults are typically about 20 to 30 centimetres long and weigh from roughly 400 grams to over a kilogram depending on species and season.

## Diet, behaviour and life cycle
Hedgehogs are mainly nocturnal and largely solitary, coming together only to breed. They are classic insectivores, hoovering up beetles, earthworms, slugs, snails, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs, and will opportunistically take eggs, carrion or small vertebrates. After a gestation of about 31 to 35 days, females give birth to a litter usually of four to six young, called hoglets, born blind with soft spines hidden beneath the skin that harden within hours. In cooler climates, hedgehogs hibernate through winter, dropping their body temperature and surviving on fat reserves. In the wild they typically live around three years, though some reach ten or more.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## Why hedgehogs are declining
For decades the European hedgehog was treated as a common backyard animal, but long-term monitoring revealed a worrying slide. In 2024 the IUCN reclassified it as Near Threatened, citing a decline approaching or exceeding 30 percent over ten years across much of its range, with populations in some countries, including the UK and Germany, falling by more than half. The drivers are overwhelmingly human. Roads kill huge numbers each year; pesticides and intensive farming strip away the insect prey they depend on; hedges and rough ground are cleared; and gardens have become hazardous, with strimmers, slug pellets, netting, ponds with steep sides and bonfires all taking a toll. Notably, rural declines have been steeper than urban ones, making wildlife-friendly gardens and connected green spaces increasingly important refuges.

## WARN work
Hedgehogs fall outside the countries where the World Animal Rescue Network currently funds frontline rescue work, and as a group spread across Europe, Asia and Africa they sit beyond our present funded footprint. We are honest about that: WARN does not run or fund hedgehog projects today. This guide is educational and search content, created to support our broader mission of raising global awareness about wildlife and the habitat loss, pesticide use and human pressures that threaten species worldwide. The most truthful way to help through WARN is to support the habitat protection and wildlife-welfare work we do fund, which addresses the same root causes hurting hedgehogs elsewhere.

## Donation hook
WARN does not currently fund hedgehog projects, but the threats they face, lost habitat and human pressure on wildlife, are exactly what our funded work targets. Support our habitat protection efforts to help wildlife where WARN works today.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hedgehog): Hedgehog — wildlife guide.

## Are hedgehogs endangered?
Hedgehogs as a group are not all endangered, and status varies by species. However, the widespread European hedgehog was reclassified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List in 2024 after declines approaching or exceeding 30 percent over ten years in parts of its range.

## How many species of hedgehog are there?
There are 17 recognised species of hedgehog, grouped into five genera within the subfamily Erinaceinae, found across Europe, Asia and Africa.

## What do hedgehogs eat?
Hedgehogs are insectivores. Their diet is mostly invertebrates such as beetles, earthworms, slugs, snails, caterpillars, millipedes and earwigs, and they occasionally eat eggs, carrion or small vertebrates.

## What is a baby hedgehog called?
A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet. Hoglets are born blind, with soft spines beneath the skin that harden within hours of birth.

## What is the difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine?
They are unrelated. Hedgehogs are small insectivores in the subfamily Erinaceinae with short, barb-free spines, while porcupines are larger rodents with long, barbed quills. Hedgehogs roll into a ball to defend themselves; porcupines cannot shoot quills but can detach them on contact.

## Why are hedgehogs disappearing?
Hedgehog numbers are falling mainly because of human pressures: road traffic, pesticides that destroy their insect prey, loss of hedgerows and rough habitat, and garden hazards such as strimmers, slug pellets, netting and steep-sided ponds.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa. There are two Critically Endangered species — the Western and Eastern gorilla — and gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans.

## Introduction
Gorillas are the largest living primates and, after chimpanzees and bonobos, our closest animal relatives, sharing roughly 98% of our DNA. There are two species — the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) — and both are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. These powerful yet gentle, mostly plant-eating apes live in close-knit family groups led by a mature male called a silverback, deep in the rainforests and mountain forests of equatorial Africa. Poaching, habitat loss, disease and instability across their range have driven steep declines, though the mountain gorilla offers a rare glimmer of hope.

## Takeaway
There are two gorilla species — the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) — and both are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

## Takeaway
Gorillas are the largest living primates: a wild silverback male can weigh around 200 kg and stand about 1.7 m tall when upright.

## Takeaway
They share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos.

## Takeaway
Gorillas live in stable family groups led by a dominant adult male, the silverback, and are mostly herbivorous, eating leaves, stems, shoots and fruit.

## Takeaway
Key threats are poaching, habitat loss, disease (including Ebola) and armed instability across their Central and East African range.

## Takeaway
The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, is a rare conservation success, with numbers rising above roughly 1,000 individuals.

## Why Are Gorillas Endangered?
Both gorilla species are Critically Endangered, and the reasons overlap. Poaching is a major pressure: gorillas are killed for bushmeat, caught in snares set for other animals, and infants are sometimes taken for the illegal trade. Habitat loss is equally serious — forests are cleared for agriculture, logging, mining and settlement, fragmenting the connected forest gorillas need. Disease is a distinctive threat for great apes: outbreaks of the Ebola virus have killed thousands of western lowland gorillas in parts of Central Africa, and because gorillas share so much of our biology, they are also vulnerable to human respiratory infections. Finally, much of the gorilla's range sits in regions affected by armed conflict and instability, which makes long-term protection and law enforcement extremely difficult. Gorillas reproduce slowly — females give birth roughly once every four years — so populations recover only gradually, and a single epidemic or surge in poaching can undo decades of gains. The combination of these pressures is why both species carry the Red List's highest threat category short of extinction in the wild.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## How Do Gorillas Live? Silverbacks and Family Life
Gorillas are deeply social, living in cohesive groups usually of around 5 to 30 members. Each group is led by a dominant mature male known as a silverback, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he matures. The silverback makes the decisions — where the group feeds, travels and rests — and defends it from rivals and predators, sometimes by an intimidating display of chest-beating, hooting and charging that is mostly bluff rather than true aggression. Groups typically include several adult females, their offspring and sometimes younger 'blackback' males. Gorillas build a fresh nest of bent branches and leaves to sleep in each night, on the ground or in low vegetation. They are intelligent and expressive: they use a range of vocalisations and gestures, show signs of grief, and some have learned elements of sign language in research settings. Despite their great strength and fearsome reputation, wild gorillas are generally shy, peaceable animals that prefer to avoid conflict.

## Western vs Eastern Gorilla: The Two Species
The two gorilla species are separated by hundreds of kilometres of the Congo Basin. The Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) lives in the lowland rainforests and swamp forests of Central Africa — including Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries. Its most numerous subspecies, the western lowland gorilla, is the gorilla most often seen in zoos. The Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is found further east, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and along its borders with Rwanda and Uganda, and is split into two subspecies: the eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorilla and the famous mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla lives at high altitude in cool, misty forest and has longer, thicker fur to cope with the cold. While most gorilla populations are still falling, the mountain gorilla is a notable exception: intensive, sustained protection has lifted its numbers above roughly 1,000 individuals, the only gorilla population currently increasing.

## Where Do Gorillas Live?
Gorillas are found only in equatorial Africa, across a band of tropical forest in the centre of the continent. Western gorillas occupy the lowland and swamp forests of Central Africa, with strongholds in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo and further populations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Eastern gorillas live in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the mountainous border zone shared with Rwanda and Uganda, where the mountain gorilla clings to a few high-altitude forest patches. All gorillas depend on dense, connected forest for food and shelter, which is exactly the habitat being lost to clearance and fragmentation. Because gorillas need large areas of intact forest to thrive, protecting their habitat also safeguards countless other species — birds, forest elephants, and the plants that depend on the forest canopy — that share the same threatened landscapes.

## WARN work
WARN supports the protection of mountain gorillas and the forests they depend on, alongside our free educational and awareness work like this guide. The same pressures that threaten gorillas — habitat loss, snaring and forest fragmentation — also affect the animals WARN protects in its partner countries, so funding forest and wildlife protection helps gorillas and their neighbours alike.

## Donation hook
Gorillas reproduce slowly and recover even more slowly, so every protected family group matters — your support helps fund the habitat and wildlife protection that gives mountain gorillas and their forests a future.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla): Gorilla — wildlife guide.

## How much DNA do gorillas share with humans?
Gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. This genetic closeness is one reason gorillas are vulnerable to many of the same diseases we are, including respiratory infections, and why conservationists take great care to limit human contact with wild groups.

## How many gorilla species are there?
There are two species: the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Each is divided into two subspecies — the western lowland and Cross River gorillas, and the eastern lowland (Grauer's) and mountain gorillas. Both species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

## Are gorillas dangerous to humans?
Gorillas are powerful but generally shy, peaceable animals that avoid conflict. A silverback may chest-beat, hoot and charge to defend his group, but this dramatic display is usually a bluff rather than a true attack. Most encounters end without aggression, especially when people keep a respectful distance and avoid threatening behaviour.

## What do gorillas eat?
Gorillas are mostly herbivorous. They feed largely on leaves, stems, shoots, pith and bark, with western gorillas in particular eating a good deal of fruit. They also consume small amounts of invertebrates such as ants and termites. An adult silverback can eat many kilograms of vegetation a day to fuel its large body.

## What is a silverback gorilla?
A silverback is a mature adult male gorilla, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he ages, usually from around 12 years old. The silverback is the leader of a gorilla family group: he decides where the group feeds, travels and rests, and protects it from rivals and predators.

## Why is the mountain gorilla a conservation success?
The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, has recovered from a few hundred animals to more than roughly 1,000 individuals thanks to decades of intensive protection, anti-poaching patrols and close monitoring. It is the only gorilla population currently increasing, while most other gorilla populations continue to decline.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape from the forests and woodlands of equatorial Africa. Along with the bonobo, it is humans' closest living relative, sharing roughly 98-99% of our DNA. Famous for tool use, complex societies and culture, it is classified as Endangered.

## Introduction
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is a great ape native to the forests and savanna woodlands of equatorial Africa. Together with the bonobo, it is our closest living relative, sharing an estimated 98-99% of its DNA with humans. Chimpanzees are renowned for their intelligence: they make and use tools, hunt cooperatively, pass learned behaviours between generations as local "cultures", and live in complex fission-fusion societies. Four subspecies are recognised across West, Central and East Africa. Classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and listed on CITES Appendix I, chimpanzees face mounting pressure from habitat loss, the bushmeat trade, disease and the illegal pet trade, and their numbers are falling.

## Takeaway
Chimpanzees and bonobos are humans' closest living relatives, sharing roughly 98-99% of our DNA.

## Takeaway
They make and use tools, from termite-fishing sticks to nut-cracking stones, and pass these skills to their young.

## Takeaway
Chimpanzees live in fission-fusion communities that can exceed 100 members, splitting into smaller foraging parties.

## Takeaway
Four subspecies are recognised across West, Central and East Africa.

## Takeaway
They are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and listed on CITES Appendix I, with numbers falling.

## Takeaway
Habitat loss, the bushmeat trade, poaching, disease and the illegal pet trade are their main threats.

## What chimpanzees look like and where they live
Chimpanzees are robust, mostly black-haired great apes with bare faces, ears, hands and feet, and long, powerful arms suited to climbing and swinging through trees. Standing upright they reach about 1 to 1.5 metres tall; males typically weigh around 40 kg and females around 30 kg, with exceptional captive individuals heavier still. Their faces lighten or darken with age, and infants are born with a pale face and a tuft of white tail hair that fades over time. They walk on all fours using a distinctive knuckle-walking gait but stand and walk upright when carrying food or peering over vegetation. Chimpanzees range discontinuously across equatorial Africa, from Senegal in the west to Tanzania and Uganda in the east. They occupy a wide variety of habitats, including tropical rainforest, swamp forest, montane forest, woodland and dry savanna, provided there are fruiting trees and water. Each community defends a home range that it patrols and forages across, building fresh leafy sleeping nests in the trees each night.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## Tool use, hunting and chimpanzee culture
Few animals rival the chimpanzee for behavioural complexity. Nearly every wild population studied uses tools, and different communities favour different techniques, a pattern scientists describe as culture because the behaviours are learned socially rather than inherited. Chimpanzees strip leaves from twigs to "fish" for termites and ants, crumple leaves into sponges to soak up drinking water, and in parts of West Africa use stone or wooden hammers and anvils to crack hard-shelled nuts, a skill that takes years to master. Some populations have even been seen sharpening sticks to jab at small prey. Diets are broad and largely plant-based, dominated by ripe fruit but including leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, insects and honey. Chimpanzees also hunt cooperatively, most famously pursuing red colobus monkeys, then sharing the meat in ways shaped by social bonds. Communication is rich, combining dozens of vocalisations such as the carrying pant-hoot with facial expressions, gestures and drumming on tree buttresses. These cultural traditions vary so much between sites that losing a population can mean losing unique behaviours forever.

## Society, family life and reproduction
Chimpanzees live in multi-male, multi-female communities of roughly 15 to more than 150 individuals, organised around a fission-fusion structure: the whole community rarely gathers at once, instead splitting into smaller, ever-changing parties that forage and travel together before regrouping. Males usually remain in their birth community for life and form the core of a status hierarchy headed by an alpha male, whose position depends as much on alliances and grooming as on size or strength. Females often transfer to a new community as they mature, reducing inbreeding. Bonds are maintained through long bouts of social grooming, which calms tensions and reinforces relationships. Reproduction is slow, which makes population recovery difficult. After a gestation of about eight months a female gives birth to a single infant, which she carries, nurses and teaches for years; weaning occurs around three years of age and the interval between births is often four to six years. Youngsters learn foraging, tool use and social rules largely by watching their mothers and others. In the wild chimpanzees can live well past 40 and sometimes beyond 50 years, with some captive individuals reaching their sixties or older.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for chimpanzees, which live outside the countries where WARN's partners work; this guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work to help people understand the species and the pressures it faces. The very threats that endanger chimpanzees, above all habitat loss alongside the wildlife trade, also harm the animals WARN does protect, which is why building public understanding of them matters.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps fund WARN's habitat and wildlife work for the animals in its care.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chimpanzee): Chimpanzee — wildlife guide.

## Are chimpanzees endangered?
Yes. The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and its population is decreasing. It is also listed on CITES Appendix I, the strictest level of international trade protection. The main threats are habitat loss from logging and agriculture, the bushmeat trade and poaching, infectious disease, and capture for the illegal pet trade.

## How much DNA do chimpanzees share with humans?
Chimpanzees share roughly 98-99% of their DNA with humans, with the most commonly cited figure around 98.8% for directly comparable sequences. Along with bonobos, they are our closest living relatives. This deep genetic similarity is reflected in shared traits such as tool use, complex social bonds, problem-solving and a wide range of emotional expressions, though humans and chimpanzees last shared a common ancestor several million years ago.

## What do chimpanzees eat?
Chimpanzees are omnivores with a largely plant-based diet dominated by ripe fruit. They also eat leaves, seeds, flowers, bark, insects such as termites and ants, and honey. Many populations hunt cooperatively for small and medium mammals, most famously red colobus monkeys, and share the meat. Diets vary between communities and seasons, reflecting both local food availability and learned cultural traditions.

## Do chimpanzees really use tools?
Yes. Nearly every wild chimpanzee population studied uses tools, and they are among the most accomplished tool-users in the animal kingdom. They fish for termites and ants with stripped twigs, soak up water with leaf sponges, and in some regions crack hard nuts using stone or wooden hammers and anvils. Different communities favour different techniques, learned socially, which scientists regard as evidence of chimpanzee culture.

## How long do chimpanzees live?
In the wild chimpanzees commonly live into their thirties and forties, and some individuals survive past 50 years. In captivity they can live even longer, with documented individuals reaching their sixties and, in rare cases, close to 80. Their slow life history, with single births spaced several years apart and years of maternal care, means populations recover slowly from losses.

## What is the difference between a chimpanzee and a bonobo?
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) are closely related great apes and our two closest living relatives. Bonobos live only south of the Congo River and tend to be more slender, with female-centred societies and frequent use of social and sexual behaviour to ease tension. Chimpanzees have a wider range, more male-dominated hierarchies, hunt more often and can show greater intercommunity aggression.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
An axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a neotenic salamander from the Xochimilco canals near Mexico City that stays aquatic and larval-looking for life, keeping external gills. Famous for regenerating limbs, organs and brain tissue, it is Critically Endangered in the wild yet common in captivity.

## Introduction
The axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) is a neotenic salamander native only to the canal system of Xochimilco, near Mexico City. Unlike most amphibians, it never fully metamorphoses: it keeps its feathery external gills, stays aquatic for life and breeds while still in a larval-looking form. It is world-famous for an extraordinary ability to regenerate amputated limbs, parts of its heart, spinal cord and even portions of its brain. The axolotl is also a striking conservation paradox. It is one of the most abundant amphibians on Earth in laboratories, classrooms and home aquariums, yet it is Critically Endangered in the wild, where only a few hundred or fewer may survive.

## Takeaway
The axolotl is a salamander that stays aquatic and larval-looking for life, a trait called neoteny.

## Takeaway
It is native only to the Xochimilco canal system near Mexico City, historically also Lake Chalco.

## Takeaway
It can regenerate limbs, parts of the heart, spinal cord and even brain tissue, making it a key research animal.

## Takeaway
It is Critically Endangered in the wild yet abundant in captivity, a stark conservation paradox.

## Takeaway
Its main threats are urbanisation, water pollution and invasive fish such as tilapia and carp.

## Takeaway
It is listed on CITES Appendix II, regulating international trade.

## What makes the axolotl unique
The axolotl's defining feature is neoteny: it reaches sexual maturity and reproduces while retaining the body of a larva. Where most salamanders absorb their gills, climb onto land and breathe air as adults, the axolotl keeps its three pairs of feathery external gills, its broad tail fin and its fully aquatic lifestyle throughout its roughly 10-to-15-year life. Most individuals stop developing because their bodies produce very little thyroid hormone, the chemical signal that normally triggers metamorphosis. Wild axolotls are usually dark and mottled, providing camouflage among canal sediment and plants. The pale pink and white animals familiar from aquariums and photographs are largely the result of captive breeding for leucistic and albino colour forms, which are rare or absent in the wild. Adults most commonly measure around 23 cm long, though sizes from roughly 15 to 45 cm are recorded. Their permanently upturned mouths give them a distinctive smiling appearance that has made them a global internet and pop-culture icon.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## Regeneration and scientific importance
The axolotl is one of the most studied animals in regenerative biology. It can regrow entire amputated limbs, complete with bone, muscle, nerves and skin, in a matter of weeks, and it can repair its heart, spinal cord, retina and parts of its brain rather than forming scar tissue. After injury, cells near the wound form a structure called a blastema, which rebuilds the missing part in the correct shape and orientation. Researchers study this process to understand why mammals, including humans, cannot regenerate in the same way. The axolotl has also become important in developmental biology, cancer resistance research and tissue-engineering studies. Its genome is enormous, around 32 billion base pairs, roughly ten times the size of the human genome and one of the largest animal genomes ever sequenced. Because the species breeds readily in captivity and tolerates laboratory conditions well, hundreds of thousands of axolotls now live in research facilities and homes worldwide, descended largely from a small number of founder animals.

## The wild axolotl in peril
The contrast between the captive and wild axolotl is dramatic. In its only natural home, the canals and wetlands of Xochimilco on the southern edge of Mexico City, the species has collapsed. Surveys over recent decades have recorded sharp declines, and some find almost no animals at all; estimates suggest only a few hundred or fewer remain in the wild, leading the IUCN to list it as Critically Endangered. The causes are tied to the growth of one of the world's largest urban areas. Wetlands have been drained and built over, and remaining waterways suffer from sewage, agricultural run-off and pollution. Invasive fish introduced for food and the aquarium trade, particularly tilapia and carp, eat axolotl eggs and young and compete for food. Restoration efforts in Xochimilco focus on improving water quality, creating refuges free of invasive fish and working with local chinampa farmers who maintain the area's traditional floating gardens, on which the canals depend.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run a dedicated field project for the axolotl, which lives only in a small area of central Mexico, outside the countries where WARN's partners work partner countries. This guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand a species whose wild survival hangs in the balance. The same pressures that threaten the axolotl, habitat loss, water pollution and invasive species, also harm the wetland and freshwater animals WARN does protect elsewhere.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps fund WARN's habitat and freshwater conservation work for animals facing the very same threats.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/axolotl): Axolotl — wildlife guide.

## Are axolotls endangered?
Yes. The IUCN lists the axolotl as Critically Endangered in the wild, where it survives only in the Xochimilco canal system near Mexico City. Estimates suggest just a few hundred or fewer remain, and some surveys find almost none. This is despite the species being extremely common in captivity, where hundreds of thousands live in labs, classrooms and home aquariums.

## Can axolotls really regrow their limbs?
Yes. Axolotls can regenerate entire amputated limbs, complete with bone, muscle, nerves and skin, usually within weeks. They can also repair the heart, spinal cord, retina and even parts of the brain without scarring. After injury, cells gather into a structure called a blastema that rebuilds the missing tissue. This rare ability makes the axolotl a key animal in regenerative medicine research.

## Why do axolotls stay babies their whole lives?
Axolotls show neoteny, meaning they keep larval features and stay aquatic for life instead of metamorphosing into land-dwelling adults like most salamanders. This happens because their bodies produce very little thyroid hormone, the signal that normally triggers metamorphosis. They keep their feathery external gills and tail fin yet still become sexually mature and breed in this larval-looking form.

## Where do axolotls live in the wild?
Axolotls are native only to the canal and wetland system of Xochimilco on the southern edge of Mexico City, and historically to the now largely drained Lake Chalco. This single, shrinking habitat is the reason the species is so vulnerable: as Mexico City has expanded, the wetlands have been polluted, drained and invaded by non-native fish, leaving very little suitable habitat.

## What do axolotls eat?
Axolotls are carnivores. In the wild they eat small prey such as worms, insects, insect larvae, small crustaceans, molluscs and tiny fish, sucking them in with a rapid gulp. In captivity they are commonly fed earthworms, bloodworms and specially formulated pellets. Their permanently larval anatomy means they hunt entirely underwater, detecting prey by movement and smell.

## What is the difference between an axolotl and a salamander?
An axolotl is a salamander, specifically a species in the mole salamander family. The key difference is that most salamanders metamorphose into terrestrial adults, losing their gills and living partly on land. The axolotl does not: through neoteny it keeps its gills, tail fin and aquatic lifestyle for life. Its close relative, the tiger salamander, does undergo full metamorphosis.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa. It lives in cooperative groups of up to about thirty, posts sentinels to watch for predators, and feeds mainly on insects, scorpions and other small prey.

## Introduction
The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) is a small, highly social mongoose of southern Africa's arid Kalahari and surrounding scrublands. Weighing under a kilogram, it lives in cooperative groups, often called mobs or gangs, of roughly two to thirty animals that share burrows, raise pups together and defend a common territory. Meerkats are famous for their sentinel behaviour: while the group forages, one member stands tall on a mound or bush, watching the sky and ground for predators and giving distinct alarm calls. They eat mostly insects, scorpions and other small prey, and show some resistance to scorpion venom. The IUCN lists the meerkat as Least Concern.

## Takeaway
Meerkats are small mongooses, weighing under a kilogram, native to the arid Kalahari and southern Africa.

## Takeaway
They live in cooperative groups of roughly 2 to 30, sharing burrows and raising pups together.

## Takeaway
Sentinels take turns standing guard and give distinct alarm calls for aerial versus ground threats.

## Takeaway
Their diet is largely insects, scorpions and other small prey, and they tolerate some scorpion venom.

## Takeaway
A dominant pair produces most pups, while subordinate group members help feed and protect them.

## Takeaway
The IUCN classifies the meerkat as Least Concern, and it is not listed on CITES.

## What meerkats look like and where they live
Meerkats are slender, ground-dwelling mongooses, measuring roughly 24 to 35 cm in head-and-body length with a thin, tapering tail of about 17 to 25 cm. Adults typically weigh between 0.6 and 1 kg. Their coarse, sandy-to-grizzled coats carry faint dark bands across the back, and dark patches around the eyes act like built-in sunglasses, cutting glare so they can scan a bright desert sky. Long, curved claws make them efficient diggers. They are found across the arid zones of southern Africa, principally in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, with the range barely reaching south-western Angola. Meerkats favour open, dry country with sparse woody vegetation: savanna, scrubland and semi-desert where firm or sandy soils allow extensive burrow systems. Those burrows, often shared with ground squirrels, provide shelter from extreme heat, cold nights and predators, with multiple entrances and deep chambers.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## Living in a mob: cooperation and sentinels
Meerkats are among the most cooperative of mammals. A group, popularly called a mob or gang, contains roughly 2 to 30 individuals centred on a dominant breeding pair. Most pups are born to that pair, while subordinate adults act as helpers, babysitting, feeding young and sharing guard duty in a system biologists call cooperative breeding. The behaviour they are best known for is sentinel duty: while the rest of the group forages with heads down, one animal climbs to a raised spot and stands sentry, scanning for danger. Sentinels give different alarm calls depending on whether a threat comes from the air, such as a raptor, or the ground, such as a jackal, and the calls even signal urgency. Group living also means warmth on cold mornings, shared pup-rearing, and many eyes and ears, all of which help meerkats survive in an exposed, predator-rich landscape.

## Diet, scorpions and venom resistance
Meerkats are mainly insectivores, foraging by scratching and digging through sand and leaf litter for beetles, larvae, butterflies and moths, spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates. They also take small reptiles, amphibians, birds, eggs and occasionally plant material such as roots and fruit. Scorpions are a notable part of the menu, and meerkats handle them with skill, rapidly biting and rubbing the prey in sand to remove the stinger before eating. They have some physiological resistance to scorpion venom, allowing them to tackle prey that would harm many other animals, though a sting can still be dangerous. Pups are not born knowing how to handle such dangerous food; adults teach them, first bringing dead prey, then disabled prey, and finally live prey as the youngsters gain skill, an example of active teaching that is rare in the animal world. Foraging is near-constant because their small bodies store little fat and must be refuelled daily.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for meerkats, which live outside the countries where our partners work and remain classified as Least Concern. This guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand the wildlife that shares our planet. The same pressures that shape arid ecosystems, including habitat loss, land-use change and a warming climate, also affect the animals WARN does protect, so building public understanding of species like the meerkat supports wildlife conservation more broadly.

## Donation hook
If you value clear, science-based wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps WARN keep protecting habitats and the animals that depend on them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/meerkat): Meerkat — wildlife guide.

## Are meerkats dangerous to humans?
Meerkats are small wild animals and pose little threat to people; they are far more interested in avoiding predators and foraging for insects. They can bite if cornered or handled, and they are not suited to being kept as pets. In the wild they are shy of humans, and the main risks of close contact are stress to the animal and disease transmission in either direction.

## What do meerkats eat?
Meerkats are mainly insectivores, eating beetles, larvae, butterflies, moths, spiders, centipedes and other invertebrates that they dig from sand and soil. They also take scorpions, small reptiles, amphibians, birds, eggs and sometimes roots or fruit. Because their small bodies store little energy, they forage almost constantly during the day and must feed daily to survive.

## Why do meerkats stand up on their hind legs?
Meerkats stand upright to act as sentinels, gaining a clear view across open country to spot raptors, jackals and other predators. A standing meerkat on a mound or bush is usually on guard duty while the rest of the group forages. They also stand to warm up in the morning sun, exposing their thinly furred bellies after a cold desert night.

## Are meerkats endangered?
No. The IUCN Red List classifies the meerkat as Least Concern, meaning it is widespread and not currently at risk of extinction. It is not listed on CITES. Meerkats remain common across the arid zones of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. As with all wildlife, longer-term pressures such as habitat change and climate shifts are worth monitoring, but the species is presently secure.

## How long do meerkats live?
In the wild, meerkats generally live around five to fifteen years, with survival heavily influenced by predators, drought and competition between groups. In captivity, where food and safety are reliable, they can live considerably longer, with a recorded maximum lifespan of over twenty years. Pups face the greatest risks, and cooperative care from the whole group improves their chances of reaching adulthood.

## Are meerkats immune to scorpion venom?
Meerkats have some physiological resistance to scorpion venom, which lets them hunt and eat scorpions that would seriously harm many other animals. They are not fully immune, and a sting can still be dangerous, so they handle scorpions carefully, biting off or disabling the stinger and rubbing the prey in sand before eating. Adults teach pups this risky skill step by step.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/platypus): Platypus — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A platypus is a semi-aquatic, egg-laying mammal (a monotreme) native to eastern Australia and Tasmania. It has a duck-like bill, webbed feet and a beaver-like tail, hunts underwater using electroreception, and males carry venomous ankle spurs. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

## Introduction
The platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is one of the strangest mammals on Earth: a furry, duck-billed, beaver-tailed animal that lays eggs, carries venom and hunts by sensing electricity. Found only in the freshwater rivers and streams of eastern Australia and Tasmania, it is a monotreme, a tiny, ancient lineage of egg-laying mammals. So bizarre was the first preserved specimen sent to Britain that naturalists suspected a hoax, sewn together from several creatures. Today the platypus is listed as Near Threatened, with populations quietly declining as drought, dams and land clearing degrade the waterways it depends on. It remains a beloved emblem of Australia's unique wildlife.

## Takeaway
The platypus is a monotreme, one of only five living mammal species that lay eggs rather than giving birth to live young.

## Takeaway
It is one of the very few venomous mammals: males have a spur on each hind ankle that delivers excruciating venom.

## Takeaway
Its rubbery bill detects the faint electric fields of prey, letting it hunt with eyes, ears and nostrils closed underwater.

## Takeaway
The platypus lives only in freshwater habitats of eastern Australia and Tasmania, from Queensland to the southern coast.

## Takeaway
Females lay around two leathery eggs and nurse their young with milk that oozes through the skin, as they have no nipples.

## Takeaway
Listed as Near Threatened, it is squeezed by drought, climate change, dams and land clearing that degrade its rivers.

## A mammal that breaks all the rules
When the first platypus specimen reached Britain in the late 1790s, scientists were convinced it was a fraud, a duck's bill stitched onto the pelt of a mammal. It was real. The platypus belongs to the monotremes, an ancient order of mammals that diverged from the lineage leading to marsupials and placental mammals more than 100 million years ago. Today only five monotreme species survive: the platypus and four echidna species. Like all mammals, the platypus has fur and produces milk, yet it reproduces by laying eggs. Females usually lay two small, leathery eggs in a riverbank burrow and curl around them to incubate. After hatching, the blind, bean-sized young feed on milk, but the platypus has no nipples: milk seeps from pores onto the mother's belly, where the young lap it up. This blend of reptile-like and mammal-like traits makes the platypus a living window into mammalian evolution, and one of the most scientifically prized animals alive.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/platypus): Platypus — wildlife guide.

## Built for the river: bill, fur and venom
Everything about the platypus is shaped for a life spent diving in cool freshwater. Its body is streamlined and covered in dense, waterproof fur that traps a layer of insulating air, keeping it warm in chilly streams. The front feet are strongly webbed for paddling, with the webbing folding back on land to free the claws for digging burrows. The famous bill is not hard like a duck's but soft, leathery and packed with sensory receptors. Males carry one of the animal kingdom's rarest mammalian weapons: a sharp, hollow spur on each hind ankle connected to a venom gland. The venom is not usually life-threatening to humans but causes severe, long-lasting pain that resists ordinary painkillers, and spur use peaks in the breeding season, suggesting it is mainly for competing with rival males. Males are noticeably larger than females, averaging around 50 cm in length against roughly 43 cm, and weighing up to about 1.7 kg.

## Hunting by electricity
The platypus has a sixth sense most mammals lack: electroreception. When it dives, it closes its eyes, ears and nostrils, sealing itself off from the world above, and relies entirely on its bill to navigate and find food. The bill is studded with around 40,000 electroreceptors arranged in stripes, alongside thousands of mechanoreceptors that sense pressure and movement. Together these let the platypus detect the tiny electrical signals given off by the muscles of shrimp, insect larvae, worms and other small prey buried in the riverbed. Sweeping its bill from side to side as it forages, the animal builds a kind of electrical map of its surroundings in pitch darkness or murky water. It scoops up prey along with gravel, stores the food in cheek pouches, and surfaces to grind it using horny pads rather than teeth, which adults lack. A platypus may spend many hours a day foraging, eating a substantial fraction of its body weight to fuel this energetic lifestyle.

## A quiet decline
The platypus is still found across much of eastern Australia and Tasmania, and for that reason has long been considered safe. But its outlook is darkening. The IUCN lists it as Near Threatened with a declining population trend, and researchers estimate numbers have fallen by roughly 30% since European settlement, with sharper local losses in some catchments. Because platypuses depend entirely on healthy freshwater, they are acutely vulnerable to anything that harms rivers. Prolonged drought and a warming, drying climate shrink and fragment their habitat; dams and river regulation alter natural flows and block movement between populations; and land clearing strips the vegetated banks they need for burrows and stable water quality. Platypuses are also drowned in illegal net and trap fishing and entangled in litter. The species is not listed under CITES, but conservationists increasingly argue for stronger national protection. Monitoring is difficult because the animals are shy, nocturnal and easily missed, so true declines may be greater than records suggest.

## WARN work
WARN does not currently run dedicated field projects for the platypus, which lives outside the countries where our partners work. Instead, this guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand why even seemingly secure species are quietly slipping. The threats that drive platypus decline, habitat loss, drought, dammed and degraded waterways and land clearing, are the very same pressures bearing down on the animals WARN's partners do protect, which is why healthy habitats sit at the heart of our mission.

## Donation hook
If the platypus's story moves you, a small gift helps fund WARN's wider work protecting wild habitats and the animals that depend on them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/platypus): Platypus — wildlife guide.

## Is a platypus a mammal?
Yes. The platypus is a mammal, but an unusual one called a monotreme. It has fur, is warm-blooded and produces milk to feed its young, all defining mammal traits. What makes it extraordinary is that it lays eggs instead of giving birth to live young, a reptile-like feature retained from an ancient evolutionary line. Only five living species, the platypus and four echidnas, share this egg-laying mammal lifestyle.

## Is the platypus venomous?
Yes, it is one of the very few venomous mammals. Adult males have a sharp, hollow spur on each hind ankle linked to a venom gland. The venom is rarely fatal to humans but causes intense, long-lasting pain that ordinary painkillers struggle to relieve, and can incapacitate small animals. Venom production peaks during the breeding season, suggesting the spurs are used mainly to compete with rival males rather than for defence or hunting.

## How does a platypus find food underwater?
It uses electroreception. When diving, a platypus closes its eyes, ears and nostrils and relies entirely on its soft, leathery bill, which contains around 40,000 electroreceptors. These detect the faint electrical signals produced by the muscles of prey such as shrimp, worms and insect larvae hidden in the riverbed. By sweeping its bill side to side, the platypus locates food in dark or muddy water without seeing it, then stores it in cheek pouches to eat at the surface.

## Where do platypuses live?
Platypuses live only in eastern Australia and Tasmania, in and around freshwater rivers, streams, lakes and ponds. Their range stretches from tropical Queensland in the north down through New South Wales and Victoria to Tasmania and King Island. They need clean, flowing water with earthen banks for digging burrows and a healthy supply of aquatic invertebrates. They are not found naturally anywhere else in the world.

## How big is a platypus and how long does it live?
Platypuses are fairly small. Males average about 50 cm in total length and up to roughly 1.7 kg, while females are smaller at around 43 cm and under 1 kg, with size varying by region. They are long-lived for their size: one wild individual was recaptured at around 24 years old, and captive platypuses have survived to roughly 30 years, though many wild animals live considerably shorter lives.

## Are platypuses endangered?
The platypus is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, with a declining population trend. It is not yet classed as endangered across its whole range, but numbers are estimated to have dropped by roughly 30% since European settlement, with steeper losses in some areas. Drought, climate change, dams, river regulation and land clearing all degrade the freshwater habitats it relies on, and conservationists are increasingly calling for stronger legal protection.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chameleon): Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A chameleon is an arboreal lizard of the family Chamaeleonidae, with around 200 species, about half found only in Madagascar. They are known for independently moving eyes, a fast projectile tongue, gripping feet, a prehensile tail and colour change used mainly for communication and temperature control.

## Introduction
Chameleons are a distinctive family of mostly tree-dwelling lizards (Chamaeleonidae) famous for changing colour, swivelling each eye independently and firing a long, sticky tongue to catch prey. Around 200 species have been described, ranging from a thumbnail-sized leaf-litter dweller to a lizard nearly 70 cm long. Roughly half of all species live only in Madagascar, with most of the rest across mainland Africa and a handful reaching southern Europe, the Middle East, India and Sri Lanka. Specialised for life in branches, they have gripping, pincer-like feet and a prehensile tail. Their famous colour change is used mainly to communicate mood and to control body temperature, not chiefly as camouflage.

## Takeaway
Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) number around 200 species, roughly half of which live only in Madagascar.

## Takeaway
Their colour change mainly signals mood and regulates temperature, rather than hiding them from predators.

## Takeaway
Each eye moves independently for near-360° vision, then both lock forward for stereoscopic aim before a strike.

## Takeaway
The projectile tongue can reach prey in as little as 0.07 seconds and extend well beyond body length.

## Takeaway
Gripping, pincer-like feet and a prehensile tail make them superb climbers in trees and shrubs.

## Takeaway
Conservation status varies by species; habitat loss and collection for the pet trade threaten many, and most are CITES-listed.

## How chameleons change colour - and why
Chameleons change colour using layers of specialised skin cells. Beneath the pigment-bearing cells lie nanocrystal-packed cells called iridophores; by actively spacing or tightening these crystals, a chameleon shifts which wavelengths of light are reflected, sweeping its skin from greens and blues toward yellows, oranges and reds. Pigment movement adds further tones. Contrary to popular belief, the primary purpose is not camouflage. Colour change is chiefly a language: males flush bright, bold patterns to display dominance or court mates, and turn dark when submitting or stressed. It also helps with thermoregulation, as a chameleon can darken to absorb more warmth in cool conditions or pale to reflect heat. Many species do rest in greens and browns that blend with foliage, so background-matching plays a supporting role, but the showiest changes are about signalling and body temperature, not invisibility. The speed and vividness vary widely between species, with some of the most dramatic displays seen in larger Madagascan and African chameleons.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chameleon): Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## Built for the branches: eyes, tongue and grip
Few animals are as specialised for ambush hunting in trees as a chameleon. Its eyes sit in cone-shaped, scaly turrets that rotate independently, giving an almost complete field of view so it can scan for insects and predators at once. Once prey is spotted, both eyes converge to judge distance with precise stereoscopic vision. Then comes the tongue: a muscular, spring-loaded structure that launches faster than the eye can follow, striking prey in as little as 0.07 seconds and, in small species, extending more than twice the body length. A sticky, suction-like tip secures the catch and reels it back. Underpinning all this is a body made for climbing. The toes are fused into opposing bundles, two against three, forming pincers that clamp around twigs, while the prehensile tail coils like a fifth limb for extra anchorage. Most chameleons move slowly and deliberately, sometimes rocking as they walk to mimic a leaf swaying in the breeze.

## Where chameleons live and what they eat
Chameleons are overwhelmingly Old World animals. Madagascar is their heartland, home to about half of all species, with many found nowhere else on Earth. The remainder occur across sub-Saharan Africa, with a single species reaching southern Europe and a few extending through the Middle East to India and Sri Lanka; introduced populations also persist in places such as Hawaii and Florida. They occupy habitats from rainforest and montane cloud forest to dry woodland and even semi-desert scrub, and a few tiny species live in leaf litter rather than trees. Most are insectivores, picking off grasshoppers, crickets, flies and other invertebrates, though the largest species will take small birds, lizards and even the occasional fruit or leaf. Reproduction varies: many lay eggs, burying clutches in soil, while some montane species give birth to live young. Lifespans differ by species, commonly spanning roughly three to about ten years, with smaller species tending to live shorter lives.

## Why chameleons are under pressure
There is no single conservation status for chameleons, because the family spans roughly 200 species with very different fortunes. Some are widespread and of low concern, while others, particularly narrow-range species in Madagascar and Africa's montane forests, are assessed as threatened or even Critically Endangered. The overriding problem is habitat loss: forests are cleared for farmland, fuel and timber, and because so many chameleons live only in small patches of specialised habitat, losing those forests can imperil an entire species at once. Collection for the international pet trade adds further pressure on some sought-after species, which is why most chameleons are listed on CITES Appendix II to regulate cross-border trade. Climate change compounds the risk for cool, high-altitude specialists with nowhere cooler to go. Because they depend so completely on intact forest, chameleons are useful indicators of habitat health: protecting the forests they need also safeguards countless other species that share those landscapes.

## WARN work
World Animal Rescue Network does not currently run field projects specifically for chameleons, which live mainly outside the countries where WARN's partners work partner countries. This guide is part of WARN's free educational and awareness work, helping people understand and value lesser-known wildlife. The same pressures that threaten chameleons - especially habitat loss - also affect the animals WARN does protect, so supporting habitat and wildlife work has benefits that reach far beyond any single species.

## Donation hook
If you would like to help, supporting WARN's habitat and wildlife work is a gentle way to stand up for the forests and the creatures, large and small, that depend on them.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/chameleon): Chameleon — wildlife guide.

## Why do chameleons change colour?
Chameleons change colour mainly to communicate and to regulate their temperature, not primarily to hide. By rearranging tiny light-reflecting crystals in their skin, they shift between greens, blues, yellows and reds. Bright, bold colours signal dominance or courtship, while dark tones often mean stress or submission. Darkening also helps them absorb warmth, and paling reflects heat. Background-matching plays only a supporting role.

## How fast is a chameleon's tongue?
Astonishingly fast. A chameleon can strike prey in as little as 0.07 seconds, with the tongue accelerating at well over 40 times the force of gravity - quicker than the human eye can follow. In smaller species the tongue can extend more than twice the body length. A sticky, suction-like tip grabs the insect, and powerful muscles reel the catch straight back to the mouth.

## Where do chameleons live?
Chameleons are Old World lizards found mainly in Madagascar and across sub-Saharan Africa. About half of all species live only in Madagascar. A single species reaches southern Europe, and a few extend through the Middle East to India and Sri Lanka. Introduced populations also persist in places such as Hawaii and Florida. They occupy rainforest, cloud forest, dry woodland and even semi-desert scrub.

## How many species of chameleon are there?
Around 200 chameleon species have been described, grouped into roughly 10 to 12 genera within the family Chamaeleonidae. They range dramatically in size, from a leaf-litter dweller barely the length of a fingernail to a lizard nearly 70 centimetres long. Scientists continue to describe new species, particularly in Madagascar and Africa, so the total tends to rise over time as research continues.

## What do chameleons eat?
Most chameleons are insectivores, ambushing grasshoppers, crickets, flies and other invertebrates with their high-speed projectile tongue. Larger species will also take small birds, lizards and other small vertebrates, and some occasionally eat plant material such as leaves and fruit. They hunt by sight, using independently swivelling eyes to spot prey, then locking both eyes forward to judge distance before striking.

## Are chameleons endangered?
It depends on the species. With around 200 species, status varies widely: some are widespread and of low concern, while many narrow-range species, especially in Madagascar and Africa's montane forests, are threatened or Critically Endangered. The main causes are habitat loss and, for some species, collection for the pet trade. Most chameleons are listed on CITES Appendix II to regulate international trade.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/turkey): Wild Turkey — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large North American ground bird and the wild ancestor of the domestic turkey. Males have iridescent feathers, a bare red-and-blue head and a fan-shaped tail, and produce a loud gobble that carries up to a mile.

## Introduction
The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a large, ground-dwelling game bird native to North America and the wild ancestor of the domestic turkey. Males, called toms or gobblers, are unmistakable: dark, iridescent body feathers that shimmer bronze, copper and green, a bare bluish head with red wattles, and a fan-shaped tail they spread in courtship. Their carrying "gobble" can travel up to a mile. Despite weighing several kilograms, turkeys are agile and can fly short distances in fast, powerful bursts, usually roosting in trees overnight. Once heavily reduced by hunting and habitat loss, the species recovered dramatically across the twentieth century and is now widespread and classed as Least Concern.

## Takeaway
The wild turkey is a large North American game bird and the wild ancestor of the domestic turkey.

## Takeaway
Males (toms) display iridescent plumage, a fan-shaped tail and a gobble that can carry up to a mile.

## Takeaway
Despite their bulk, turkeys are strong short-distance fliers and roost in trees at night.

## Takeaway
They are omnivores, favouring acorns and other nuts alongside seeds, berries and small animals.

## Takeaway
The species recovered from roughly 30,000 birds in the 1930s to around 7 million today.

## Takeaway
The IUCN lists the wild turkey as Least Concern, with a stable to increasing population.

## What does a wild turkey look like?
Wild turkeys are big, long-legged birds with rounded bodies and a distinctive fan-shaped tail. Adult males are larger and more ornate than females, typically measuring around 100-125 cm long and weighing roughly 5-11 kg, with the heaviest birds heavier still; females are smaller, usually about 76-95 cm and 2.5-5.4 kg. The wingspan spans roughly 1.25-1.44 metres. A male's body feathers are dark but richly iridescent, glinting bronze, copper, green and gold in good light, while females are duller and better camouflaged. The most striking feature is the bare head and neck, which can flush blue, white and red, especially in displaying males. Fleshy growths include the snood, a flap of skin over the bill; the wattle at the throat; and bumpy caruncles on the neck. Males also sport a tuft of coarse, hair-like feathers called a beard on the chest, and spurs on the legs used in fights with rivals. These features together make a displaying tom one of the most recognisable birds in North America.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/turkey): Wild Turkey — wildlife guide.

## Where do wild turkeys live and what do they eat?
Wild turkeys are birds of North America, ranging across much of the United States and into Mexico and southern Canada. They favour a mix of mature woodland and open clearings, fields or grassland: trees provide acorns, nuts and safe overnight roosts, while open ground offers seeds, insects and space to forage and display. This patchwork of forest and edge habitat suits them well, and they have adapted to farmland and even suburban fringes in many areas. Turkeys are omnivores with a broad diet. They especially favour hard mast such as acorns and other nuts, but also eat seeds, grains, berries, buds and roots, supplemented by insects and other invertebrates and occasionally small amphibians or reptiles. They typically feed by walking and scratching at the leaf litter and ground, foraging in flocks for much of the year. At dusk they fly up to roost in trees, which helps keep them safe from ground predators through the night.

## How do wild turkeys behave and breed?
For much of the year wild turkeys are social, moving in flocks that often separate by sex and age. In the breeding season males compete for mates through dramatic display: a tom puffs out his body feathers, fans his tail, drops his wings and struts while gobbling, drumming and making a spitting sound. The gobble, given mainly by males in spring, can carry up to a mile and advertises his presence to females and rivals alike. Dominant males may mate with several females. Hens nest on the ground in a shallow, concealed scrape, usually laying a sizeable clutch of eggs that they incubate alone. The young, called poults, are precocial: they can walk and feed themselves soon after hatching and follow the hen, who broods and protects them. Within a couple of weeks they can make short flights up to low roosts. Turkeys communicate with a wide range of calls beyond the gobble, including yelps, clucks and purrs, used to keep flocks together and signal alarm.

## WARN work
WARN does not run field projects specifically for wild turkeys, which thrive across North America, outside the countries where WARN's partners work. This guide is part of WARN's free educational work to help people understand wildlife. The broader threats turkeys once faced, habitat loss and over-exploitation, are the same pressures that bear down on the animals WARN's partners do protect, which is why clear, honest information about all species matters.

## Donation hook
If learning about wildlife like the wild turkey sparks your curiosity, a small gift helps WARN keep producing free educational guides and supporting the animals its partners protect.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/turkey): Wild Turkey — wildlife guide.

## Can wild turkeys fly?
Yes. Although they spend most of their time on the ground and are heavy birds, wild turkeys are strong, fast fliers over short distances. They typically fly low and for only a few hundred metres at a time, usually to escape danger or to reach the trees where they roost overnight. This sets them apart from heavy domestic turkeys, which are generally too large to fly.

## What is the difference between a wild turkey and a domestic turkey?
Both belong to the same species, Meleagris gallopavo, but the domestic turkey was bred from a Mexican subspecies and selected over centuries for size and meat. Domestic turkeys are usually much heavier, often white-feathered, and generally cannot fly. Wild turkeys are leaner, have dark iridescent plumage, are alert and fast, and remain capable of strong short flights and overnight tree roosting.

## Why do turkeys gobble?
Gobbling is mainly done by males, especially in spring. It is a loud advertising call used to attract females and to signal dominance to rival males. A gobble can carry up to about a mile, making it one of the most far-reaching bird calls in North American woodland. Males also drum and make spitting sounds, while both sexes use yelps, clucks and purrs to communicate.

## What do wild turkeys eat?
Wild turkeys are omnivores with a varied diet. They particularly favour hard mast such as acorns and other nuts, alongside seeds, grains, berries, buds and roots. They also eat insects and other invertebrates, and occasionally small amphibians or reptiles. Turkeys forage by walking and scratching at the leaf litter and soil, usually feeding in flocks for much of the year.

## Are wild turkeys endangered?
No. The IUCN classifies the wild turkey as Least Concern. The species suffered serious declines from hunting and habitat loss, falling to around 30,000 birds in the 1930s, but recovered dramatically through habitat protection and management to roughly 7 million today. Its population is now considered stable to increasing across much of North America.

## What is the fleshy flap on a turkey's head called?
A turkey's head and neck carry several fleshy features. The snood is the flap of skin that hangs over the bill and can lengthen when a male displays. The wattle is the loose skin at the throat, and the small bumpy growths on the head and neck are called caruncles. These features can flush bright red, white and blue, most strikingly in displaying males.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hummingbird): Hummingbird — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A hummingbird is a very small, nectar-feeding bird in the family Trochilidae, found only in the Americas. With more than 360 species, they are the world's smallest birds and the only ones able to hover and fly backwards, beating their wings up to around 50 or more times a second.

## Introduction
Hummingbirds are a family of very small, fast-flying birds (Trochilidae) found only in the Americas, from Alaska and Canada to the southern tip of Chile and Argentina. With more than 360 species, they are the smallest birds on Earth and among the most acrobatic, able to hover in still air and even fly backwards. Their wings beat so quickly they blur into a faint hum — the sound that gives the group its name. Hummingbirds live on a fuel-hungry diet of flower nectar topped up with tiny insects, sustaining one of the highest metabolic rates of any animal. To survive cold nights they can enter torpor, a deep, energy-saving sleep that slows the heart and drops body temperature dramatically.

## Takeaway
Hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) number more than 360 species and live only in the Americas, from Alaska to southern South America.

## Takeaway
They are the smallest birds in the world, with the bee hummingbird of Cuba measuring roughly 5.5 cm long and weighing under 2 grams.

## Takeaway
They are the only birds that can hover precisely in place and fly backwards, beating their wings up to around 50 or more times per second in small species.

## Takeaway
Their diet is mostly flower nectar plus small insects, fuelling one of the highest metabolic rates of any vertebrate.

## Takeaway
On cold nights many enter torpor, slowing the heart and lowering body temperature to save energy.

## Takeaway
Conservation status varies by species: most are of Least Concern, but several are Critically Endangered, and the whole family is listed on CITES Appendix II.

## Why can hummingbirds hover and fly backwards?
Hummingbirds are the only birds that can hover steadily in mid-air and fly backwards, sideways and even briefly upside down. The secret is in the shoulder joint and wing motion. Where most birds flap their wings up and down, hummingbirds rotate their wings in a figure-of-eight pattern, generating lift on both the forward and backward strokes. This lets them stay almost motionless in front of a flower while they feed. To power this, their flight muscles are unusually large — making up around a quarter to a third of their body weight — and their wings beat extremely fast, ranging from roughly 12 beats per second in the largest species to many tens of beats per second in the smallest. The blur of these beats produces the characteristic humming sound. Hovering is metabolically expensive, so hummingbirds pair it with rapid, darting flight to move between flowers efficiently. Top flight speeds can exceed 50 km/h, and males of some species reach even higher speeds in dramatic courtship dives. This combination of precision hovering and bursts of speed is unmatched among birds.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hummingbird): Hummingbird — wildlife guide.

## What do hummingbirds eat and why is their metabolism so high?
Hummingbirds run on sugar. Their main food is nectar, the energy-rich liquid produced by flowers, which they reach with long, slender bills and a forked, tube-like tongue that laps fuel up many times a second. Nectar provides quick carbohydrate energy, but little protein, so hummingbirds also catch small insects and spiders to supply the building blocks for muscle and feathers. Feeding this way supports an extraordinary metabolism: hummingbird hearts can beat well over 1,000 times a minute during activity, and they may visit hundreds of flowers in a single day to keep up with their energy demands. As they probe each bloom, pollen sticks to their head and bill, making them important pollinators of many native plants. Their high energy needs also explain their survival strategy on cold nights. Rather than burn precious reserves keeping warm, many hummingbirds enter torpor, a state of suspended activity in which the heart rate and body temperature fall sharply until dawn. By morning they warm back up and resume feeding, ready to refuel.

## Where do hummingbirds live, and do they migrate?
Hummingbirds are found exclusively in the Americas, which makes them one of the most distinctive bird families of the New World. Their range stretches from Alaska and Canada in the north, through the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, down to the southern tip of South America. The greatest diversity by far is in the tropics, especially the forests and mountain slopes of the Andes and Central America, where dozens of species can share a region. Many tropical hummingbirds stay put year-round, but several temperate species are long-distance migrants. The ruby-throated hummingbird, for example, breeds across eastern North America and winters in Central America, with many individuals crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single non-stop flight — a remarkable feat for so small a bird. The rufous hummingbird undertakes one of the longest migrations relative to body size of any bird, travelling thousands of kilometres between Alaska and Mexico. To prepare, migrating hummingbirds lay down fat reserves, sometimes nearly doubling their body weight before setting off.

## How threatened are hummingbirds?
Because Trochilidae is such a large family, conservation status varies enormously from one species to the next. Many widespread hummingbirds are assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern and remain common within their ranges. However, a number of species — often those restricted to a small island, valley or mountain — are at serious risk, and several are listed as Critically Endangered. The main pressures are habitat loss and degradation, as forests and flower-rich habitats are cleared for farming and development, alongside the growing effects of a changing climate, which can shift the timing of flowering that migratory species rely on. Pesticides reduce the insect prey hummingbirds need for protein. To help curb international trade, the entire hummingbird family is listed on Appendix II of CITES, the global wildlife-trade convention. For gardeners and landowners, planting native nectar-rich flowers, avoiding pesticides and providing clean feeders can offer real, local support to the hummingbirds that pass through.

## WARN work
World Animal Rescue Network does not run field projects specifically for hummingbirds, which live across the Americas — outside the countries where WARN's hands-on rescue work is based. This guide is part of WARN's free educational library, written to help people understand and value wildlife. The threats that put some hummingbirds at risk — habitat loss, pesticide use and a changing climate — are the same pressures that harm the animals WARN does protect, which is why clear, science-based education matters everywhere.

## Donation hook
If you value free, carefully sourced wildlife guides like this one, a small gift helps WARN keep producing them and care for the animals in its hands-on programmes.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/hummingbird): Hummingbird — wildlife guide.

## What is the smallest hummingbird in the world?
The smallest hummingbird — and the smallest bird of any kind — is the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), found only in Cuba. Males measure about 5.5 cm from bill to tail tip and weigh under 2 grams, lighter than a typical coin. Females are slightly larger. Despite their tiny size, bee hummingbirds hover and feed just like their bigger relatives.

## How fast do hummingbirds beat their wings?
Wingbeat speed depends on the species and the size of the bird. Large hummingbirds beat their wings around 12 times a second, while small species can manage many tens of beats per second — often quoted as around 50 or more, and even higher in the very smallest. These extremely fast, figure-of-eight wing strokes create the humming sound that gives the family its name and allow precise hovering.

## What do hummingbirds eat?
Hummingbirds feed mainly on flower nectar, a sugary liquid that gives them quick energy, which they lap up with a long, tube-like tongue. Because nectar is low in protein, they also eat small insects and spiders to support muscle, feather and egg development. A single hummingbird may visit hundreds of flowers a day to meet its very high energy needs, and pollinates many plants as it feeds.

## Do hummingbirds sleep, and what is torpor?
Yes. On cold nights many hummingbirds enter torpor, a deep, energy-saving form of rest. During torpor the bird's metabolism slows dramatically: the heart rate drops from over a thousand beats a minute to as few as fifty, and body temperature falls steeply. This greatly reduces the energy needed to survive until morning, when the bird warms back up and resumes feeding.

## Where are hummingbirds found?
Hummingbirds live only in the Americas. Their range runs from Alaska and Canada in the north, through the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, down to the southern tip of South America. They are most diverse in the tropics, especially the Andes and Central America. They are not native to Europe, Africa, Asia or Australia, which makes them a uniquely New World family of birds.

## Are hummingbirds endangered?
It depends on the species. With more than 360 hummingbird species, status varies widely: many are assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern and remain common, while several others — often those with very small ranges — are Critically Endangered. The chief threats are habitat loss, pesticides and climate change. To regulate trade, the entire hummingbird family is listed on Appendix II of CITES.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/crow): Crow — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A crow is a medium-to-large, mostly black bird of the genus Corvus, part of the corvid family that includes ravens and jays. Found on most continents, crows are among the world's most intelligent birds — using tools, solving problems and recognising individual human faces.

## Introduction
Crows are medium-to-large, all-black or black-and-grey birds of the genus Corvus, part of the corvid family that also includes ravens, rooks, jackdaws, magpies and jays. Found on every continent except South America and Antarctica, they are best known for extraordinary intelligence: many species use and even shape tools, solve multi-step puzzles, remember individual human faces and pass information between generations. Most familiar crows — such as the American crow and the carrion crow — are highly adaptable and abundant, thriving in farmland, woodland and city streets alike. With roughly four to five dozen species worldwide, "crow" describes a remarkably successful, social and curious group of birds.

## Takeaway
"Crow" refers to birds of the genus Corvus, part of the wider corvid (crow) family.

## Takeaway
Crows are among the most intelligent of all birds, with brain-to-body ratios comparable to some primates.

## Takeaway
Several species make and use tools, plan ahead and solve multi-step problems in experiments.

## Takeaway
Crows recognise individual human faces and can hold a grudge — or a favour — for a long time.

## Takeaway
Common species such as the American and carrion crow are Least Concern and often increasing.

## Takeaway
A few island and specialist crows are threatened, so conservation status varies across the genus.

## What makes crows so intelligent?
Crows possess one of the highest brain-to-body ratios among birds, rivalling that of some non-human primates. This is reflected in behaviour that was once thought uniquely mammalian. In laboratory tests, crows solve multi-step puzzles, choose between tools, and appear to plan for future needs rather than acting only on immediate reward. New Caledonian crows, the most famous tool-makers, fashion hooked twigs and barbed leaf-edges to winkle grubs from crevices, and will even use one tool to obtain another. Beyond tools, crows recognise individual human faces, remember those who have threatened them, and can communicate that information to other crows, including their own offspring. They cache food, track who is watching them and re-hide stores when they suspect a thief is nearby — a behaviour linked to perspective-taking. This combination of memory, social learning and flexible problem-solving is why crows are studied so intensively by scientists interested in how intelligence evolves. Importantly, much of this cleverness is practical: it helps crows exploit an enormous range of foods and habitats, from rubbish-strewn cities to remote forests, making them one of the most adaptable bird groups on the planet.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/crow): Crow — wildlife guide.

## Where do crows live and what do they eat?
Crows occur across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia, occupying almost every habitat from coastal cliffs and open farmland to dense woodland and busy city centres. The genus is conspicuously absent only from South America and Antarctica. This wide range reflects an unfussy, opportunistic diet: crows are omnivores that eat insects, worms, seeds, grain, fruit, eggs, small animals, carrion and human food waste. Their adaptability around people is a major reason familiar species have flourished while many specialist birds decline. Most crows are highly social. Many roost communally, sometimes in flocks numbering thousands, and species such as the rook nest in colonies. Outside the breeding season, large gatherings offer warmth, safety and shared information about where food can be found. Crows are also famously vocal, with a varied repertoire of caws, rattles and clicks used to signal alarm, defend territory and keep contact within the group. Some can even mimic sounds, including elements of human speech in captivity. This blend of dietary flexibility, sociality and intelligence allows crows to live alongside humans more successfully than almost any other wild bird.

## Are crows a single species, and are they endangered?
"Crow" is not one species but a common name for many birds in the genus Corvus, which holds roughly four to five dozen species depending on how they are classified. The same genus also contains ravens, rooks and jackdaws, so the line between a "crow" and a "raven" is more about naming tradition than strict biology. The familiar large black crows of the Northern Hemisphere — the American crow in North America and the carrion and hooded crows across Eurasia — are all assessed by the IUCN as Least Concern, and several are stable or increasing thanks to their comfort around farmland and towns. Because the genus is so large and widespread, conservation status varies considerably. While the common crows are abundant, a number of island-dwelling and habitat-specialist species are far more vulnerable: the Hawaiian crow, for example, is among the most threatened birds in the world. Most crows are not listed on CITES, reflecting that they are not generally traded at levels of concern, though the threatened specialists need targeted protection of their shrinking habitats.

## WARN work
World Animal Rescue Network does not run field projects dedicated specifically to crows, which are widespread and, in their common forms, not threatened. This guide is part of WARN's free educational work to help people understand and value wildlife. The habitat loss, persecution and pollution that threaten the rarer crows of the world are the same pressures bearing down on the animals WARN does protect in its partner countries — so caring about crows is part of caring about the wider web of life.

## Donation hook
If crows have ever made you look twice, you can help WARN keep teaching people to see wildlife with the same curiosity.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/crow): Crow — wildlife guide.

## What is the difference between a crow and a raven?
Both are members of the genus Corvus, so the distinction is partly traditional. In general, ravens are larger, with heavier bills, shaggy throat feathers and a deeper, croaking call, and they soar with a wedge-shaped tail. Crows are smaller, caw rather than croak, and have a fan-shaped tail in flight. Behaviourally, crows are more often seen in flocks, while ravens tend to travel in pairs.

## How intelligent are crows really?
Remarkably so. Crows have brain-to-body ratios comparable to some primates and show abilities once thought uniquely mammalian. They make and use tools, solve multi-step puzzles, plan for the future, recognise individual human faces and remember them for years, and even teach information to other crows. Some appear to understand that other individuals can see what they cannot, a hallmark of advanced social cognition.

## Do crows remember human faces?
Yes. Studies have shown that crows can learn to recognise specific human faces, particularly those of people who have threatened or trapped them. They remember these faces for a long time, scold the individuals when they reappear, and can pass the information to other crows, including their young. Crows also remember people who treat them kindly and may bring small objects in apparent return.

## What do crows eat?
Crows are opportunistic omnivores with an extremely varied diet. They eat insects, earthworms, seeds, grain, fruit and nuts, along with carrion, eggs, nestlings and small animals. In towns and cities they readily scavenge human food waste. This dietary flexibility is one of the main reasons common crows are so widespread and abundant, able to find food in farmland, forest, coastline and city centre alike.

## Are crows endangered?
Most familiar crows are not. Common species such as the American crow and the carrion crow are listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, and several are stable or increasing. However, the genus Corvus contains many species, and conservation status varies. Some island and habitat-specialist crows are threatened — the Hawaiian crow, for instance, is one of the world's rarest birds and has needed intensive recovery efforts.

## Why do crows gather in large flocks?
Crows are highly social and many roost communally, sometimes in gatherings of thousands, especially outside the breeding season. Large roosts offer safety in numbers, shared warmth on cold nights and opportunities to exchange information about good feeding sites. Some species, such as the rook, also nest together in colonies. This sociality, combined with their intelligence, helps crows thrive in a wide range of environments.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/blue-jay): Blue Jay — wildlife guide.

## One-line answer
A blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a bold, crested blue songbird of eastern and central North America, and a member of the corvid family alongside crows and ravens. Known for mimicking hawk calls and caching acorns, it is common, intelligent, and listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.

## Introduction
The blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a striking, crested songbird of eastern and central North America, and a member of the corvid family that includes crows, magpies and ravens. Roughly the size of an American robin but bulkier, it is unmistakable in lavish blue, white and black plumage, with a pointed crest it raises when alert or excited. Blue jays are loud, intelligent and highly social, famous for imitating the screams of hawks and for caching thousands of acorns each autumn. By burying nuts they later forget, they help oak woodlands regenerate. Adaptable and widespread, the species is classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and is not listed by CITES.

## Takeaway
The blue jay is a crested corvid native to eastern and central North America, closely related to crows, magpies and ravens.

## Takeaway
It is a skilled vocal mimic, often imitating the calls of hawks such as the red-shouldered hawk.

## Takeaway
Blue jays cache large numbers of acorns each autumn and, by forgetting some, help oak forests spread.

## Takeaway
The bird's blue colour comes from light scattering by feather structure, not from blue pigment.

## Takeaway
Adaptable and widespread, the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN and is not CITES-listed.

## Takeaway
Some northern populations migrate in loose daytime flocks, while many individuals stay put year-round.

## What does a blue jay look like?
The blue jay is one of North America's most recognisable birds, roughly 25–30 cm long with a wingspan of around 34–43 cm and a weight usually between about 65 and 110 grams. Its upperparts are bright blue, the face and underparts are pale grey-white, and a distinctive black 'necklace' runs across the throat and around the head. The wings and tail are barred in vivid blue, white and black, and a jaunty crest on the crown rises and falls with the bird's mood. Males and females look alike, which is unusual among colourful birds. Strikingly, the blue is not produced by pigment. The feathers contain the dark pigment melanin, but their microscopic structure scatters light so that we perceive blue, a phenomenon called structural colour. Crush a blue feather and the blue disappears. Strong legs, a stout black bill and a steady, slightly undulating flight complete the picture of a robust, confident bird at home in woodland and gardens alike.


World Animal Rescue Network (https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/blue-jay): Blue Jay — wildlife guide.

## What do blue jays eat, and why do they cache acorns?
Blue jays are omnivores with a strong preference for nuts and seeds. Acorns, beechnuts and other tree seeds form a major part of the diet, supplemented by insects, fruit, grain and the occasional egg or nestling. A throat pouch lets a jay carry several acorns at once, and in autumn a single bird may transport and bury thousands of nuts in scattered caches to see it through winter. Because not every cache is recovered, many acorns are effectively planted in suitable soil, well spaced from the parent tree. Ecologists credit jays with helping oaks recolonise ground after the last Ice Age and with shaping the spread of oak woodland today, making them important seed dispersers. Blue jays will also visit garden feeders, favouring sunflower seeds, peanuts and suet, and are bold enough to dominate smaller birds. Their intelligence shows in problem-solving and in the way they remember the locations of hidden food, a feat of spatial memory shared across the corvid family.

## Why do blue jays imitate hawks?
Blue jays are accomplished vocal mimics, and their best-known impression is the piercing scream of a hawk, particularly the red-shouldered hawk. The reason is not fully settled, but several explanations are plausible and not mutually exclusive. A convincing hawk call may scatter other birds from a feeder or food source, clearing the way for the jay. It may also serve as a warning that a real hawk is nearby, alerting family members and other jays to genuine danger. Beyond mimicry, blue jays have a wide vocabulary of harsh 'jay-jay' calls, soft whistles, clicks and rattles, and pairs use quiet notes when close together. They are social birds, often moving in family groups and mobbing predators such as owls and hawks as a team. This combination of loud alarm calls, mimicry and cooperative defence makes the blue jay both a sentinel of the woodland and, to other species, a sometimes unwelcome bully at the bird table.

## Where do blue jays live, and do they migrate?
Blue jays are found across eastern and central North America, from southern Canada through the eastern and central United States. They favour mixed and deciduous woodland, especially where oaks and beeches grow, but they thrive equally in parks, suburbs and gardens, which has helped the species expand its range westward over time. Migration in blue jays is famously puzzling. Some northern birds gather into loose flocks and travel south by day in autumn, often along shorelines and ridgelines, yet many individuals of the same population stay put all winter. Even individual birds may migrate one year and remain the next, and the triggers are not fully understood. Breeding pairs build a cup nest of twigs in a tree, where the female incubates a clutch of eggs while the male brings food. Both parents care for the young. With their adaptability, varied diet and tolerance of human landscapes, blue jays remain common and widespread, which is reflected in their secure conservation status.

## WARN work
World Animal Rescue Network does not run field projects specifically for the blue jay, which is a common and secure species living mainly outside the countries where WARN's partners work partner countries. This guide is part of WARN's free educational work, helping people understand and value wildlife everywhere. The threats that erode bird populations elsewhere, above all habitat loss and the degradation of woodland and wild spaces, are the same pressures that endanger the animals WARN does protect on the ground.

## Donation hook
If learning about the blue jay deepened your care for wildlife, a small gift helps fund WARN's free educational work and on-the-ground protection for animals that need it most.