Wildlife Of Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. is the capital of the U.S. and there are also animals who make their home here. Since the city is in close proximity of Rock Creek Park, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers it is home to 240 species of birds, 29 mammals, 21 reptiles, 19 amphibians, and 78 species of fish. Some of them make the DC Metro Area their home year round and some birds are seasonal and migrate druing the autumn and spring.

Eastern Grey Squirrels can be seen all around the city as they collect and cache seeds all around the city and in the parks They beautify the city by being responsible for planting many new trees as the squirrel away acorns.

For bird watchers there are plenty of birds around such as Blue Jays that also disperse acorns and nuts often flying with them great distances looking for places to hide them. There are other songbirds making their home here like Robins, Northern Cardinals, and Wood Thrushes.

These birds consume berries and fruit they find and the disperse the seed in their droppings. There are Bald Eagles and other raptors and birds of prey that help control the rodent, fish, and reptile populations.

You can also encounter large Brown Bats, and Chimney Swifts. The good thing about having so many birds around is that they eat many insects so they keep the pest population at a minimum.

There are also Virginia Opossums which are omnivores and will consume anything they can find including trash. Parks and city streets are also kept cleaner by raccoons. In other places you might encounter red foxes and black rat snakes that eat mice and other rodent pests.

Groundhogs who are often thought as pests because they dig up gardens are actually beneficial to city life because their droppings are great fertilizer and their diggings aerate and churn the soil.

All of these animals and birds live side by side and benefit one from the other in certain ways in the capital of the U.S. Washington D.C.

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