Find Nature In Vermont

Additional Wildlife of Vermont

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 Green Mountain State.

Birds (Avifauna)

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The ethereal, flute-like song of the Hermit Thrush is the soundtrack of the Vermont woods and serves as the state bird. In the agricultural lowlands, conservationists focus heavily on grassland specialists like the Bobolink and the Eastern Meadowlark, whose populations rely on the timing of hay harvests. Lake Champlain serves as a vital stopover for migrating waterfowl, including massive flocks of Snow Geese in the autumn. On the cliffs of the Green Mountains, Peregrine Falcons have made a remarkable recovery, utilizing the vertical rock faces for nesting sites that offer protection from predators.

Mammals

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Vermont is a stronghold for the Black Bear, which thrives in the mast-rich hardwood forests. The Northeast Kingdom is the primary range for the Moose, where they can be found wading in boggy wetlands to feed on aquatic vegetation. The Fisher, a sleek and aggressive mustelid, patrols the forest floor and is one of the few predators capable of successfully hunting porcupines. In the waterways, river otters and beavers are ecosystem engineers, creating ponds and wetlands that benefit countless other species.

Insects

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The agricultural heritage of Vermont makes pollinator health a central issue. Native bumblebees and the non-native Honey Bee are critical for the apple and berry crops. The Monarch Butterfly is a summer resident, utilizing the abundant milkweed in fallow pastures. In the streams, the presence of Stoneflies and Caddisflies serves as a bio-indicator of high water quality, essential for the state’s trout populations.

Plants

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The Sugar Maple is the ecological and cultural king of Vermont, driving the vibrant fall foliage and the maple syrup industry. In the spring, the forest floor is carpeted with ephemerals like Red Trillium (Stinking Benjamin) and Trout Lily, which must bloom and seed before the canopy leaves out. The rare Alpine Sandwort and Diapensia are strictly protected species found only on the exposed summits of the highest peaks, adapted to survive desiccation and extreme cold.

Fungi

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The damp, shade-rich environments of the Green Mountains produce prolific fungal blooms. Spring brings the highly prized Morel mushroom, often found near dying elms or old apple orchards. Summer and fall see the emergence of Golden Chanterelles and the unique Bear’s Head Tooth (Hericium), a cascading white fungus that grows on hardwood logs. The vast network of mycorrhizal fungi in these undisturbed soils is the invisible engine keeping the hardwood forests alive.

Vermont Biodiversity Profile

Vermont is defined biologically by its verticality and its geological spine, the Green Mountains. This ancient range creates a powerful north-south corridor that facilitates the movement of species between the temperate forests of southern New England and the boreal zones of Canada. The state is essentially a massive transition zone. In the west, the Champlain Valley acts as a “banana belt,” with a milder climate and sedimentary soils that support natural communities found nowhere else in the state, such as valley clayplain forests and oak-pine woodlands. This region, anchored by Lake Champlain, supports an inland freshwater ecosystem that mimics coastal estuaries in its productivity and diversity.

Moving eastward and upward, the Northern Hardwood Forests dominate the landscape. This is the heart of the “working landscape” where ecology and economy intersect; the dominance of sugar maple, yellow birch, and American beech creates a nutrient cycle that supports a vast web of life, from soil invertebrates to large mammals. These forests are not uniform; as elevation increases, they transition into subalpine zones where red spruce and balsam fir take over, creating a habitat that feels distinctly Canadian.

The Northeast Kingdom represents the wildest portion of the state, a rugged plateau of cold hollows and extensive wetlands. Here, the fragmentation is lower, allowing for deep-forest species to thrive away from human development. This area is critical for connectivity, serving as a genetic bridge to the vast forests of Maine and Quebec.

Finally, we must acknowledge the rare Alpine Tundra found only on the highest peaks like Mount Mansfield and Camel’s Hump. These are ecological islands in the sky, remnants of the Pleistocene era. Scoured by wind and ice, these zones host fragile plant communities that are more closely related to the flora of the Arctic Circle than to the hardwood forests just a few thousand feet below them.