Find Nature In Mississippi

Additional Wildlife of Mississippi

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 Magnolia State.

Birds (Avifauna) The Mississippi Sandhill Crane is a critically endangered non-migratory subspecies found only in a small patch of wet pine savanna in Jackson County. Unlike their cousins that migrate thousands of miles, these cranes stay resident year-round, relying on the open pine flatwoods for nesting. The Wood Duck is the state’s waterfowl success story; once nearly extinct due to overhunting and habitat loss, they are now abundant in the beaver swamps and river oxbows, easily recognized by their intricate, colorful plumage and squealing calls.

Mammals Mississippi has one of the highest densities of White-tailed Deer in the nation, a result of the fertile soils producing high-quality forage. The American Black Bear is slowly recovering in the state, particularly along the Mississippi River corridor, moving down from expanding populations in Arkansas and Louisiana. In the coastal waters, Bottlenose Dolphins are a common sight, often feeding in the wake of shrimp boats in the Mississippi Sound.

Insects The Red Imported Fire Ant is an unfortunate ecological reality here; first introduced in the port of Mobile, they have spread across Mississippi, altering ground-dwelling insect communities. On a more positive note, the Pascagoula River supports a unique diversity of Dragonflies, including the rare Yellow-sided Skimmer. The state insect is the Honey Bee, essential for the agriculture of the Delta, but native Southeastern Blueberry Bees are critical for the pollination of native vaccinium species in the piney woods.

Plants The Southern Magnolia is both the state tree and state flower, an ancient angiosperm with massive white flowers and glossy evergreen leaves that define the Southern aesthetic. In the carnivorous plant bogs of the south, you can find the Yellow Pitcher Plant, which grows in dense, trumpet-like clusters to trap insects in the nitrogen-poor soil. Kudzu, while invasive, covers significant portions of the roadside landscape, creating bizarre “topiary” shapes as it engulfs trees and telephone poles.

Fungi The pecan orchards of Mississippi are a surprising source for the Pecan Truffle (Tuber lyonii), a native North American truffle that grows in symbiosis with pecan tree roots and is gaining culinary recognition. Chanterelles are abundant in the hardwood forests during the humid summer months. The Lion’s Mane mushroom is frequently found on dying hardwoods in the winter, looking like a cascading white beard.

Mississippi Biodiversity Profile

Mississippi is a state defined by the sediment of a continent. The northwestern region, known colloquially as The Delta (though geologically the Mississippi-Yazoo Alluvial Plain), is a landscape created by millennia of river floods depositing nutrient-rich topsoil. While much of this region has been tamed for agriculture, the remaining Bottomland Hardwood Forests are some of the most productive ecosystems in North America. These wet forests are characterized by massive oaks and bald cypress, creating a dark, flooded environment for part of the year that serves as a critical fueling station for migratory birds using the Mississippi Flyway.

Bordering the Delta to the east are the Loess Bluffs, a unique geological formation of wind-blown dust deposited during the last Ice Age. This steep, highly erodible terrain creates a sharp transition zone between the flat floodplain and the interior hills. The soil here is incredibly rich but unstable, supporting deep ravines filled with mixed mesophytic forests that include species typically found much further north, surviving in the cool, shaded microclimates of the deep gullies.

The southern portion of the state is dominated by the Piney Woods, part of the historic Longleaf Pine belt. This fire-adapted ecosystem relies on frequent burns to keep the understory open for diverse grasses and wildflowers. However, the true ecological standout of the south is the Pascagoula River. Often cited as the largest unimpeded (undammed) river system in the contiguous United States, the Pascagoula is a hydrologic marvel. Its natural flood pulses remain intact, sustaining a complex network of oxbow lakes, sloughs, and swamps that support ancient fish lineages and serve as a reference point for what free-flowing rivers looked like before the era of dam building.

Finally, the Gulf Coast offers a mix of man-made beaches and critical natural estuaries. The Mississippi Sound is protected by a chain of barrier islands (part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore) that are constantly shifting. These islands protect the seagrass beds and marshes of the sound, which function as the primary nursery for the Gulf’s shrimp and crab populations.