| Listed Species in Clay
County | ||||
| Species | Federal Status | State Status | Habitat | Threats |
| Bird | ||||
| Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus | T | E | Inland waterways and estuarine areas in Georgia. An active eagle nest was located in Clay County in 2002. | Major factor in initial decline was lowered reproductive success following use of DDT. Current threats include habitat destruction, disturbance at the nest, illegal shooting, electrocution, impact injuries, and lead poisoning. |
| Red-cockaded
woodpecker Picoides borealis | E | E | Nest in mature pine with low understory vegetation (<1.5m); forage in pine and pine hardwood stands > 30 years of age, preferably > 10" dbh | Reduction of older age pine stands and to encroachment of hardwood midstory in older age pine stands due to fire suppression |
| Reptile | ||||
| Alligator snapping turtle Macroclemys temminckii | No Federal Status | T | Rivers, lakes, and large ponds near stream swamps. | Destruction and modification of habitat and overharvesting. |
| Gopher
tortoise Gopherus polyphemus | No Federal Status | T | Well-drained, sandy soils in forest and grassy areas; associated with pine overstory, open understory with grass and forb groundcover, and sunny areas for nesting | Habitat loss and conversion to closed canopy forests. Other threats include mortality on highways and the collection of tortoises for pets. |
| Fish | ||||
| Bluestripe shiner | No Federal Status | T | Brownwater streams | |
| Plant | ||||
| Alabama milkvine Matelea alabamensis | No Federal Status | T | Upper areas of slopes and bluffs and in oak-hickory-mixed hardwood forests | |
| Croomia Croomia pauciflora | No Federal Status | T | Rich moist deciduous woodlands, ravines, and river bluffs, often with ginseng | |
| Georgia rock-cress Arabis georgiana | Candidate Species | T | Rocky (limestone, shale, granite-gneiss) bluffs and slopes along watercourses; also alsong sandy, eroding riverbanks | |
| Plumleaf azalea Rhododendron prunifolium | No Federal Status | T | Moist soils of rich hardwood ravines | |
| Relict
trillium Trillium reliquum | E | E | Hardwood forests; in the Piedmont, found in either in rich ravines or adjacent alluvial terraces with other spring-flowering herbs | Logging, road construction, agricultural conversion, mining, residential/industrial development, and encroachment by Japanese honeysuckle and kudzu |