Find Nature In Maryland

Additional Wildlife of Maryland

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 Old Line State.

Birds (Avifauna) The Baltimore Oriole is the state bird, famous not just for its brilliant orange and black plumage—which mirrored the heraldic colors of the Lord Baltimore—but for its intricate weaving of hanging nests in tall shade trees. The Chesapeake Bay is the summer home to a massive population of Ospreys, which have adapted remarkably well to human infrastructure, nesting on navigational markers and bridge pilings. In the marshes of the lower Eastern Shore, the Saltmarsh Sparrow is a species of high concern, as its ground nests are uniquely vulnerable to sea-level rise and tidal flooding.

Mammals Maryland hosts a unique population of Sika Deer on the lower Eastern Shore. Native to Japan, these elk-like deer were introduced in the early 20th century and have thrived in the wet marshes where native White-tailed Deer struggle. The barrier island of Assateague is famous for the Assateague Horses, a feral population that has adapted to a harsh diet of salt marsh cordgrass and dune vegetation, resulting in a shorter stature and bloated appearance due to the high salt intake. In the western mountains, Black Bears have made a robust recovery and are now a common sight in Garrett and Allegany counties.

Insects The Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly is the state insect and a conservation challenge. It relies entirely on the White Turtlehead plant found in wet meadows, a habitat often lost to deer browsing and development. Maryland is also a central stage for the Periodical Cicadas (Brood X), which emerge every 17 years in densities of millions per acre, creating a massive pulse of nutrients for the forest ecosystem when they die and decompose.

Plants The White Oak is the state tree, historically exemplified by the Wye Oak, which was the largest of its kind for centuries before falling in a storm. Maryland forests are also defined by the Loblolly Pine on the Eastern Shore, which grows in fast-maturing stands essential for the timber industry and for sheltering wild turkey populations. In the western mountains, you can find the Shale Barren Evening Primrose, a rare plant endemic to the mid-Appalachians that grows on hot, exposed shale slopes where few other plants can survive.

Fungi The humid summers of the Mid-Atlantic create ideal conditions for Chanterelles, which carpet the forest floors of the Piedmont in July and August. The Old Man of the Woods (Strobilomyces) is a distinctive bolete found here, easily identified by its shaggy, dark gray cap that resembles a pinecone. In the rotting hardwood logs of the state parks, the Ceramic Parchment Fungus is a common sight, playing a vital role in breaking down the lignin in fallen oak trees.

Maryland Biodiversity Profile

Maryland is frequently described as “America in Miniature” because it represents a near-complete geological cross-section of the continent within a relatively small footprint. The state’s biological identity is anchored by the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. This massive body of water is not a static lake but a dynamic mixing bowl where the fresh water of the Susquehanna and Potomac rivers meets the Atlantic Ocean. This salinity gradient creates distinct biological zones, ranging from freshwater tidal marshes in the north to high-salinity seagrass beds in the south, each supporting a specialized community of aquatic life.

To the west, the state rises into the Blue Ridge and Ridge and Valley provinces. Here, the landscape is defined by continuous deciduous forests and ancient, eroded mountains. This region serves as a critical biological corridor for species moving along the Appalachian chain. The limestone geology in valleys like the Hagerstown Valley enriches the soil, supporting diverse flora and creating unique subterranean habitats (caves) that are hotspots for bat biodiversity and specialized invertebrates.

Dividing the state is the Fall Line, a geological escarpment where the hard rock of the Piedmont drops to the soft sediments of the Coastal Plain. This transition zone is biologically energetic because the rapid change in stream gradient creates oxygen-rich, rocky river habitats immediately adjacent to slow-moving, sandy tidal rivers. This interface is historically where anadromous fish like shad and herring would spawn, marking the limit of their upstream migration.

Finally, the Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula offers a landscape dominated by agriculture and wetlands. The Pocomoke River on the lower shore is particularly notable; it is a blackwater river system lined with bald cypress trees, more reminiscent of the Deep South than the Mid-Atlantic. This dark, acidic water supports a unique fish community and serves as a refuge for species that cannot tolerate the sedimentation found in the more developed western shore rivers.