Find Nature In Oklahoma

Additional Wildlife of Oklahoma

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 Sooner State.

Birds (Avifauna) The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is the state bird and an aerodynamic marvel. Its incredibly long, forked tail allows for acrobatic, mid-air turns to catch insects on the wing. In the western sagebrush, the Lesser Prairie-Chicken is a species of high conservation concern; its population health is considered a barometer for the entire southern high plains ecosystem. Oklahoma is also a major corridor for the Whooping Crane, which stops in the salt plains and wetlands during its migration between Texas and Canada.

Mammals The American Bison is the keystone species of the tallgrass prairie. The herd at the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve is genetically vital, and their “grazing lawns” create a patchwork of habitat structure that supports ground-nesting birds. In the west, Black-tailed Prairie Dogs create massive “towns” that serve as biological hubs; their burrows provide homes for burrowing owls and rattlesnakes, while their clipping of vegetation keeps the sightlines open for safety. The Pronghorn patrols the high plains of the Panhandle, the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere.

Insects Oklahoma is a critical stronghold for the American Burying Beetle, a federally threatened species that was once found across 35 states but now survives in only a few. These large, orange-and-black beetles are nature’s undertakers, burying bird and rodent carcasses to feed their larvae. The Monarch Butterfly migration through Oklahoma is massive, with the state serving as the “neck of the funnel” during the fall migration south to Mexico, making the availability of late-blooming nectar sources critical.

Plants The Indian Blanket (Gaillardia) is the state wildflower, a hardy plant that thrives in the heat and carpets roadsides in red and yellow. The Redbud is the state tree, exploding with pink-purple flowers in early spring before the leaves emerge. In the arid west, the Sand Sagebrush dominates the landscape, its deep root systems stabilizing the dunes and providing critical cover for wildlife in a treeless environment.

Fungi The river bottoms of eastern Oklahoma are prime territory for Morels in the spring, particularly in areas with sandy soil and cottonwood trees. Puffballs are common in the prairie meadows after autumn rains. A notable local species is the Texas Star (Chorioactis geaster), a rare and bizarre fungus found only in Texas, Oklahoma, and Japan; it looks like a dark brown cigar before splitting open into a star shape and releasing a hiss of spores (the “Devil’s Cigar”).

Oklahoma Biodiversity Profile

Oklahoma is often caricatured as a flat dust bowl, but biologically, it is one of the most diverse states in the nation, containing 12 distinct ecoregions—one of the highest counts of any state. This diversity exists because Oklahoma is the great ecological “meeting ground” where the humid eastern forests dissolve into the arid western plains.

The geographic center of this transition is the Cross Timbers, a thick mosaic of post oak and blackjack oak that separates the tallgrass prairie from the mixed-grass plains. Historically known as the “Cast Iron Forest,” these stunted, gnarled trees were an impenetrable barrier to early travel. Today, this region contains some of the oldest undisturbed forests in the world; because the trees were too small for lumber, many ancient oaks here are 200 to 400 years old, yet stand only 20 feet tall.

To the northeast lie the Osage Hills, the southern extension of the Flint Hills. This is the last great stronghold of the Tallgrass Prairie on Earth. At the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the ecosystem functions as it did centuries ago, driven by the grazing of free-roaming bison and periodic fires that keep the eastern redcedar at bay and allow Big Bluestem grass to grow taller than a man.

In the southeast, the landscape mimics the Appalachians. The Ouachita Mountains (pronounced Wash-i-tah) are unique because their ridges run east-to-west. This creates a moist, subtropical climate in the valleys, supporting pine-hardwood forests and even Cypress Swamps along the Little River, where American Alligators reach the northwestern limit of their range.

On the opposite side of the state, the Panhandle and the Black Mesa region offer a high-desert ecology. Here, the landscape is dominated by shortgrass prairie, mesas, and arroyos. It is a land of pronghorn and golden eagles, biologically indistinguishable from New Mexico or Colorado, featuring Cholla cactus and junipers.