Field Guide Help
The Field Guide help is broken down into sections to make it easier to find what
your are looking for. Overview covers the background and history of this guide.
How to Use the Guide covers navigation and search topics. The last two topics
[Guide Contents, Additional Media] highlight the information sections of the
Detailed Species page.
Overview of the Guide
The Heritage Program zoologists, working in partnership with Montana Fish,
Wildlife & Parks (MFWP) recently completed a major upgrade to the on-line
Animal Field Guide, a joint project of the two programs. This encyclopedic
website combines information from the Heritage Program databases and MFWP to
provide extensive, detailed profiles of nearly 650 species of vertebrate
animals in Montana, including fish, birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
The Field Guide offers a broad range of information, including species
description and recognition, range, habitat, reproduction, food habits, ecology
and management, and references. Photos, Montana range maps, and in some cases
sounds, are also provided. Users can view lists of species by animal group or
search by name.
How to Use the Guide
The Animal Field Guide was designed to be easy to use and to explore. We encourage
you to take some time to look around the site and see all of the wonderful animals
that call Montana home.
Finding an Animal
- Search by Name
- The Montana Online Field Guide is searchable
by using the Species Lookup (located at upper right of the page). Type a common
or scientific name and the search results will provide all animals matching the
search query. It is also possible to search for multiple animals of a
particular group. For example, typing BLUEBIRD will return all animals with
bluebird in the name.
- Search by Grouping
- The organisms in the Montana Online
Field Guide are currently organized in an increasingly more specific navigation
tree, similar to the standard scientific hierarchy of animal classification
(Kingdom - Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus - Species). The major
vertebrate taxonomic groups (Classes), as well as Insects, are listed first at
the base of the tree. Selecting a Class will branch the tree into more
specific sub-groups (Orders) within the Class. Continuing this approach will
lead to an individual Montana animal (Species), the highest branch on the tree.
Sub-groups are labeled with the more commonly used name as well as the scientific
name (ie. Shorebirds - Order Charadriiformes, Plovers - Family Charadriidae,
Killdeer - Species Charadrius vociferus). It is also possible to move back
down the tree, as well as return to the top, by using the navigation pathway
located in the upper right-hand corner under the photo banner. Click to any
level previously selected to return to that step in the process. This method
allows for easy movement between animals of interest.
Navigating the Guide
Navigation of the Online Field Guide can be accomplished by either using the back
and forward buttons on your browser or by the hotlinked navigation
pathway found under the photo banner. Either method will allow movement back
and forward to previously observed pages.
Guide Contents
Below are brief descriptions of the topics found in the Animal Field Guide. If a
heading is missing from the page you are viewing, it means there is no information
available for that topic.
- Montana Species of Concern
- Any species, designated by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (MFP) and Montana
Natural Heritage Program (MTNHP) as having particular threats, declining
population trends, or restricted distribution warranting special attention.
A detailed explanation of the state/global codes is available, as well as
an explanation of the agency status codes.
- General Description
- The basic physical characteristics of a species in all life stages (adult,
subadult, juvenile, larva, etc) including size, shape, color, vocalization,
etc.
- Diagnostic Characteristics
- The unique physical aspect(s) of a species separating it from a closely
related species or a species similar in appearance.
- Range
- The distribution of a species on the landscape.
- Migration
- The seasonal movement of a species between different necessary
locations/habitats to fulfill biological requirements.
- Habitat
- The natural location or environment where an organism resides.
- Food Habits
- The learned or acquired food preferences a species uses in its normal diet.
- Ecology
- The relationship and interaction of a species with its environment/habitat.
- Reproductive Characteristics
- The physical attributes describing aspects of a species life cycle.
- Management
- The development and implementation of strategies designed to conserve a
species or its natural habitat.
- Threats or Limiting Factors
- The environmental or human-based cause(s) restricting a species success
or presence in its habitat.
- Citations and Sources
- The professional references gathered and used to present the scientific
information.
Additional Media
Included with each species account is an additional media section where other
resources pertaining to the species is available for view or download. Types
of media include maps of the species range in Montana, photographs,
illustrations, as well as some sound files of calls and songs.
- Range maps
- Range maps for birds were created from the quarter latilong system
developed by P. D. Skaar for his Montana Bird Distribution. If a species
has ever occurred in a particular quarter latilong it is highlighted in
pink. The range maps for all other species were created from existing
observation data, including MTNHP observation databases and GAP analysis
modeling of habitat and known habitat for each species.
- Photographs
- Species photos, habitat photos, nest photos, and photos of tracks have
been provided by professional and amateur photographers throughout the
state. Additional photos are being added to the Field Guide continually.
- Illustrations
- Species illustrations of raptors, upland game birds, big game, and others
are now available on the Field Guide. Montana Outdoors and The Field
Guide to Montana Fishes provided these excellent illustrations.
- Sound files
- Over 150 sound files (.wav) of bird songs and calls from the Borrer
Laboratory of Bioacustics and amphibian calls from the Canadian
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network are available now.
Additional calls are continually being added.