Animals of Northern New York
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  • Amphibians
    • Frogs and Toads >
      • American Toad
      • American Bullfrog
      • Common Gray Treefrog
      • Green Frog
      • Mink Frog
      • Northern Leopard Frog
      • Pickerel Frog
      • Spring Peeper
      • Wood Frog
    • Salamanders >
      • Blue-Spotted Salamander
      • Eastern Newt
      • Northern Red-Backed Salamander
      • Northern Two-lined Salamander
      • Spotted Salamander
  • Birds
    • Blackbirds >
      • Bobolink
      • Common Grackle
      • Red Winged Blackbird
    • Doves >
      • Mourning Dove
    • Flycatchers >
      • Eastern Phoebe
      • Eastern Kingbird
    • Grosbeaks & Sparrows >
      • American Tree Sparrow
      • Chipping Sparrow
      • Dark-Eyed Junco
      • Northern Cardinal
      • Song Sparrow
      • White-Throated Sparrow
    • Gulls >
      • Ring-Billed Gull
    • Herons >
      • Great Blue Heron
    • Jays & Crows >
      • American Crow
      • Blue Jay
    • Mimic Thrushes >
      • Gray Catbird
    • Raptors & Owls >
      • American Kestrel
      • Red-Tailed Hawk
      • Turkey Vulture
    • Swallows >
      • Barn Swallow
      • Tree Swallow
    • Thrushes >
      • American Robin
      • Eastern Bluebird
      • Veery
    • Waterfowl & Gamebirds >
      • Canada Goose
      • Mallard
      • Ruffed Grouse
      • Wood Duck
    • Waxwings >
      • Bohemian Waxwing
      • Cedar Waxwing
    • Wood Warblers >
      • Chestnut Sided Warbler
      • Common Yellowthroat
      • Yellow Warbler
    • Wrens, Woodpeckers & Kin >
      • Black-Capped Chickadee
      • Downy Woodpecker
      • Hairy Woodpecker
      • Northern Flicker
      • House Wren
  • Insects & spiders
    • Insects >
      • European Praying Mantis
      • Bees, Wasps, & Ants >
        • Bumble Bees
        • Honey Bee
      • Dargonflies & Damselflies >
        • Eastern Pondhawk
        • Twelve-Spotted Skimmer
      • Flies & Kin >
        • House Fly
        • Green Lacewing
      • Moths & Butterflies >
        • Luna Moth
        • Monarch
        • Mourning Cloak
      • True Bugs >
        • Pale Green Assassin Bug
        • Jagged Ambush Bug
    • Spiders >
      • Banded Garden Spider
      • Black and Yellow Garden Spider
      • Goldenrod Crab Spider
      • Long-bodied Cellar Spider
      • Six-Spotted Orb Weaver
  • Mammals
    • Common Muskrat
    • Eastern Chipmunk
    • Eastern Cottontail
    • North American Porcupine
    • White - Tailed Deer
  • Reptiles
    • Snakes >
      • Eastern Garter Snake
      • Eastern Milksnake
      • Red-Bellied Snake
    • Turtles >
      • Common Snapping Turtle
      • Painted Turtle
  • Glossary

Glossary

Picture
Keeled Scales (click to enlarge)
Picture
Paratoid Glands of an American Toad (outlined in image)
Arthropod- A class of invertebrates. Insects, spiders, crustaceans etc. "Insect-like" creatures.

Carapace- Top part of a shell e.g. spiders, turtles, crabs

Carrion- A dead and decaying carcass or meat.

Conifer- A tree or shrub that has needles instead of leaves and produces cones.

​Coniferous- A forest that contains primarily conifer type trees such as pines, spruces and firs. 


Deciduous- A type of forest that contains trees that lose their leaves in autumn and re-bud in spring.  (mixed refers to a forest with both conifers and deciduous trees.

Diurnal- Active during the day.

Instar- A stage in an insect's larval life; as certain insects grow they shed their exoskeleton to make room for their growing body. Examples are praying mantids, true bugs, and caterpillars. Sometimes displayed as L1, L2, L3, etc. 


Invertebrates- Organisms without a backbone, these include spiders, insects, crustaceans, earthworms, etc. 

Keeled- Refers to small ridge on each scale of certain species of snake. It make the snake's skin feel rough. ​

Nocturnal- Active at night.

Paratoid Gland- The set of kidney shaped "warts" on the back of a toad. These contain toxins which are secreted when an animal bites the toad. 

Plastron- The lower part of a shell, e.g. crabs, turtles

Plumage- A bird's feathers, many change in fall and return to normal in the breeding season. 

​
Predacious- predatory

Refuse- trash


Tussock- A dense tuft of grass often in a hump shape.





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