Find Nature In Idaho

Additional Wildlife of Idaho

To flesh out your understanding of the region’s natural history, here is a breakdown of the specific taxa you can expect to encounter in the Gem State.

Birds (Avifauna) The Mountain Bluebird is the state bird, turning the fence lines of the high valleys a brilliant cerulean blue in spring. Idaho is also the global epicenter for raptor conservation; the Peregrine Falcon was saved largely through efforts centered at the World Center for Birds of Prey in Boise. In the Snake River Canyon, massive populations of Prairie Falcons nest on the sheer basalt cliffs, hunting ground squirrels in the sagebrush above.

Mammals The Sockeye Salmon of Redfish Lake are a biological miracle. They undertake the longest, highest migration of any salmon in the world—swimming 900 miles and climbing 6,500 feet in elevation to spawn. The Grizzly Bear maintains a foothold in the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak ecosystems of the north. The Wolverine is the true master of the central Idaho granite, requiring massive territories and deep spring snowpack to den, making the Sawtooths one of their last best strongholds.

Insects The Monarch Butterfly population in Idaho is part of the western migration that heads to the California coast rather than Mexico. The Opalcoat is a specialized weevil found in the Craters of the Moon; it has evolved a coloration that perfectly matches the iridescent sheen of the lava rock to avoid predation.

Plants The Syringa (Philadelphus lewisii) is the state flower, a woody shrub that clings to rocky hillsides and fills the river canyons with a jasmine-like scent in early summer. The Whitebark Pine is the keystone species of the high alpine ridges. Its large, fatty seeds are the primary food source for Clark’s Nutcrackers and Grizzly Bears, though the species is currently being decimated by blister rust and mountain pine beetles.

Fungi Idaho is the premier state for Morel hunting in the West. Because the state has so much coniferous forest and frequent wildfire activity, “burn morels” appear in staggering quantities the spring following a fire. In the wetter northern forests, the Matsutake (Pine Mushroom) is a prized fall harvest, growing in the duff under hemlocks and pines.

Idaho Biodiversity Profile

Idaho is a state of deep wilderness and dramatic geological violence. Ecologically, it is often described as the “wildest” state in the lower 48, containing the largest contiguous area of protected wilderness outside of Alaska (the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness).

The state is physically defined by the Idaho Batholith, a massive granite formation that creates the rugged central mountains. Because these mountains are so steep and comprised of erodible granite, they have largely resisted road building, preserving vast tracts of habitat for secretive predators like wolverines and wolves.

To the north, the Panhandle is an extension of the Pacific Northwest rainforest. It receives enough moisture to support “inland temperate rainforests” of Western Redcedar and Western Hemlock, distinct from the drier Rockies. This region is the only place in the lower 48 that historically supported woodland caribou (the South Selkirk herd).

The southern third of the state is dominated by the Snake River Plain. This arc-shaped depression is actually the track of the Yellowstone Hotspot as the North American plate moved over it. While heavily agricultural today, the “untouched” portions are a high-desert sagebrush steppe. Within this plain lies Craters of the Moon, a bizarre landscape of frozen lava flows and cinder cones. Biologically, this is a “volcanic island” where limber pines twist out of black rock and specialized pikas have adapted to live in the cool lava tubes to escape the desert heat.

Finally, the state is the hydrological spine of the Columbia River system. The Salmon River (The River of No Return) is the longest undammed river in the lower 48, providing the critical, free-flowing highway for anadromous fish to reach their high-elevation spawning grounds.