Animals

The Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is a familiar bird throughout the park. It is common along the rim where Whitebark pine trees grow.

NPS photo 2019 Steven Hilger

 

Crater Lake National Park is rich with wildlife. Mammals, birds, and insects makeup the largest portion of animals living throughout the park. Native and some invasive fish species occupy many of the streams. Amphibians live in the wet lands, streams, ponds, and along the shore of Crater Lake. A few species of reptiles thrive on Wizard Island and in dry habitats.

Common Sightings

The most common animals observed around Rim Drive are golden-mantled ground squirrels, Canada jays and an assortment of butterflies and bees. Black bear sightings are more common in autumn and late spring when animals are waking up or getting ready to hibernate. American marten, snowshoe hare, and Douglas squirrel tracks are abundant in the winter snow. Melting snow and changing temperatures signal animal migrations, hibernation and seasonal foraging.

While these animals are commonly observed along Rim Drive and popular trails, visiting other areas might provide better opportunities to enjoy the sights and sounds of a wider variety of wildlife. Animals—amphibians, birds, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles and fish—may be more prominent around some of the unique and less visited landscapes of Crater Lake National Park such as Sphagnum Bog, Union Peak, Panhandle, Boundary Springs, and Desert Creek Research Natural Area.

Click on the photo categories below for information about specific species, and to access the park's species lists.

 

• 

  Birds

  Diverse habitats support migrating birds with varying layovers, and resident species that mate, nest, and raise young in the park.

• 

  Invertebrates

  The most varied of all the animal groups are found in water, land, and air. They live at all elevations throughout the park. Learn more...

• 

  Mammals

  From shrews and squirrels to bats and bears, there are over 70 species of mammals that have been identified in the park.

• 

  Amphibians

  Frogs, toads, salamanders and newts are found around the lakeshore, near rivers, meadows and other wet areas.

 

Crater Lake Species List

Use the dropdown menu below to select the Crater Lake National Park animal species category that you'd like to view. You can choose to get a checklist or the full list which includes more information about each species. Once your selection appears on the page, choose to download the information or click "view PDF" to generate a printable version of your report. Use the blue print button at the top of the document to print the report, or click the blue-and-white export symbol to save the report.

 

×

Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

---

Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

---

Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

---

Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

×

List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Crater Lake National Park

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.