Native Animals
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Although natural communities are named after plant species, animals are a critical part of these communities. (Learn why!)
Hundreds of species of animals live in Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (more than we have listed here). Some live here all year, while others, such as migrating songbirds, are present only in certain seasons. Get to know some of these more commonly seen or researched animals!
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Animals at Harpers Ferry NHP
| Common name | Scientific name | When / Where / Likelihood of Seeing or Hearing |
|---|---|---|
| Mammals | ||
| Allegheny woodrat | Neotoma magister | |
| American beaver | Castor canadensis | uncommon |
| American mink | Mustela vison | uncommon |
| black bear | Ursus americanus | uncommon |
| eastern chipmunk | Tamias striatus | common all year |
| fox squirrel | Sciurus niger | |
| gray fox | Urocyon cinereoargenteus | |
| gray squirrel | Sciurus carolinensis | common all year |
| groundhog | Marmota monax | common early spring to mid-autumn |
| raccoon | Procyon lotor | common by night |
| river otter | Lontra canadensis | uncommon |
| short-tailed shrew | Blarina brevicauda | uncommon |
| southern flying squirrel | Glaucomys volans | |
| Virginia opossum | Didelphis virginianus | common by night |
| white-tailed deer | Odocoileus virginianus | common all year |
| Mammals - Bats | ||
| big-brown bat | Eptesicus fuscus | |
| eastern red bat | Lasiurus borealis | |
| eastern small-footed bat | Myotis leibii | |
| evening bat | Nycticeius humeralis | |
| hoary bat | Lasiurus cinereus | |
| Indiana bat | Myotis sodalis | |
| little brown bat | Myotis lucifugus | |
| northern long-eared bat | Myotis septentrionalis | |
| silver-haired bat | Lasionycteris noctivagans | |
| tri-colored bat | Perimyotis subflavus | |
| Reptiles | ||
| black rat snake | Elaphe obsoleta | common in summer |
| broad-headed skink | Plestiodon laticeps | |
| eastern box turtle | Terrapene carolina | common in summer |
| eastern garter snake | Thamnophis sirtalis | common in summer |
| five-lined skink | Eumeces fasciatus | common in summer |
| northern copperhead | Agkistrodon contortrix | |
| northern fence lizard | Sceloporus undulatus | common in summer |
| painted turtle | Chrysemys picta | common in summer |
| queen snake | Regina septemvittata | |
| snapping turtle | Chelydra serpentina | common in summer |
| stinkpot turtle | Sternotherus odoratus | |
| timber rattlesnake | Crotalus horridus | |
| wood turtle | Glyptemys insculpta | |
| Amphibians | ||
| American bullfrog | Lithobates catesbeianus | common in summer |
| American toad | Anaxyrus americanus | |
| dusky salamander | Desmognathus fuscus | |
| northern leopard frog | Rana pipiens | |
| redback salamander | Plethodon cinereus | rainy days, spring through autumn |
| spring peeper | Hyla crucifer | commonly heard during spring mating season |
| Birds | ||
| American goldfinch | Spinus tristis | common mid-to-late summer |
| American pipit | Anthus rubescens | common in open fields in winter |
| bald eagle | Haliaeetus leucocephalus | common late winter to early summer soaring overhead |
| Baltimore oriole | Icterus galbula | common in summer |
| black-capped chickadee or Carolina chickadee | Poecile atricapillus or Poecile carolinensis | common all year (difficult to tell these two species apart) |
| black-throated blue warbler | Setophaga caerulescens | |
| blackpoll warbler | Setophaga striata | May at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| blue grosbeak | Passerina caerulea | common in summer at Schoolhouse Ridge |
| blue jay | Cyanocitta cristata | common all year |
| blue-gray gnatcatcher | Polioptila caerulea | |
| blue-headed vireo | Vireo solitarius | |
| blue-winged warbler | Vermivora cyanoptera | spring and summer |
| bluebird see eastern bluebird | ||
| broad-winged hawk | Buteo platypterus | Mid- to late September during fall migration |
| Canada goose | Branta canadensis | common in spring and summer |
| Carolina chickadee | Poecile carolinensis | (see black-capped chickadee) |
| Carolina wren | Thryothorus ludovicianus | |
| cerulean warbler | Setophaga cerulea | spring and early summer |
| chipping sparrow | Spizella passerina | common in summer |
| common grackle | Quiscalus quiscula | |
| common merganser | Mergus merganser | |
| common raven | Corvus corax | common over the fields at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| downy woodpecker | Picoides pubescens | |
| eastern bluebird | Sialia sialis | common in spring and summer |
| eastern meadowlark | Sturnella magna | open fields at Murphy-Chambers Farm, Bolivar Heights |
| eastern wood pewee | Contopus virens | |
| field sparrow | Spizella pusilla | open fields in spring |
| grasshopper sparrow | Ammodramus savannarum | spring and summer |
| gray catbird | Dumetella carolinensis | |
| great blue heron | Ardea herodias | common near water spring and summer |
| great crested flycatcher | Myiarchus crinitus | |
| green heron | Butorides virescens | |
| greylag goose | Anser anser | |
| horned lark | Eremophila alpestris | common in open fields in winter |
| indigo bunting | Passerina cyanea | common in open fields in spring and summer |
| Louisiana waterthrush | Parkesia motacilla | streams at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| migrant loggerhead shrike | Lanius ludovicianus migrans | |
| northern cardinal | Cardinalis cardinalis | common all year |
| northern flicker | Colaptes auratus | open fields at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| orchard oriole | Icterus spurius | |
| osprey | Pandion haleaetus | |
| peregrine falcon | Falco peregrinus | |
| pilieated woodpecker | Dryocopus pileatus | common all year |
| prairie warbler | Setophaga discolor | Successional Red-cedar Forest at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| red-bellied woodpecker | Melanerpes carolinus | common all year |
| red-eyed vireo | Vireo olivaceus | common spring and early summer |
| red-shouldered hawk | Buteo lineatus | common all year |
| red-winged blackbird | Agelaius phoeniceus | open fields in spring |
| scarlet tanager | Piranga olivacea | common spring and early summer |
| song sparrow | Melospiza melodia | common all year |
| tufted titmouse | Baeolopus bicolor | common all year |
| warbling vireo | Vireo gilvus | |
| white-eyed vireo | Vireo griseus | spring and summer |
| wood duck | Aix sponsa | Shenandoah River / Virginius Island in warm months |
| wood thrush | Hylocichla mustelina | wooded areas in summer |
| worm-eating warbler | Helmitheros vermivorum | wooded hillsides at Murphy-Chambers Farm |
| yellow-billed cuckoo | Coccyzus americanus | spring and early summer |
| yellow-breasted chat | Icteria virens | spring and summer |
| yellow-throated vireo | Vireo flavifrons | |
| Fish | ||
| bluegill sunfish | Lepomis macrochirus | |
| channel catfish | Ictalurus punctatus | |
| largemouth bass | Micropterus salmoides | |
| smallmouth bass | Micropterus dolomieu | |
| Butterflies and Moths | ||
| eastern tent caterpillar moth | Malacosoma americanum | |
| eastern tiger swallowtail | Papilio glaucus | |
| giant swallowtail | Papilio cresphontes | |
| hackberry emperor | Asterocampa celtis | |
| luna moth | Actias luna | |
| meadow fritillary | Boloria bellona bellona | |
| monarch butterfly | Danaus plexippus | |
| orange sulphur | Colias eurytheme | |
| pepper and salt skipper | Amblyscirtes hegon | |
| red admiral | Vanessa atalanta | |
| silver-spotted skipper | Epargyreus clarus | |
| zebra swallowtail | Eurytides marcellus marcellus | |
| Crustaceans | ||
| Bigger's amphipod | Stygobromus biggersi | |
Tips for Spotting Animals
- While hiking, you’re likely to see and hear birds, especially in the spring when the males are singing to attract mates and defend their territories.
- To see and hear more wildlife, find a comfortable spot and sit quietly for a while. Look for squirrels chattering in the trees, eastern box turtles ambling through the leaves, and red foxes or coyotes out looking for a mouse to eat.
- Look up to find nests of squirrels and birds. After the leaves have fallen in autumn, last summer’s nests are much easier to spot!
- In early spring, after a rain, listen for the calls of frogs, and look for salamanders under logs and wet leaves.
- If you’re near a river or stream on a sunny day, you may see turtles sunning on logs or rocks.
- You might be able to find tracks of deer, raccoons, birds, and other animals in the wet bare soil along a river or stream.
- In wet areas, look on reedy vegetation for dragonflies. Look among flowering plants for bees and butterflies.
- Witness fall hawk migration (mid- to late September) from the Bolivar Heights Battlefield.
- Watch migrating sparrows and warblers from South Schoolhouse Ridge Battlefield in spring or fall.
- Red-shouldered hawks nest each spring on Virginius Island.
- On very rare occasions, you may see peregrine falcons making spectacular dives from the Maryland Heights cliffs to catch other birds, including songbirds, waterfowl, and shorebirds. Peregrine falcon populations plummeted due to DDT, but have rebounded in the past few decades. They were absent from Harpers Ferry NHP for many years, but a pair began nesting on the Maryland Heights cliffs in 2015. To protect the birds, park staff sometimes restrict access to parts of the cliff during breeding season.