ALABAMA

ANİMALS AND PLANTS:

Birds:

Alabama Yellowhammer (common name) 
Colaptes auratus (scientific name)

Overview

The Alabama yellowhammer, more widely known as the northern flicker, was designated Alabama's state bird in 1927. It is a common species present year-round in the state. Unlike most woodpeckers, Alabama yellowhammers primarily forage on the ground, eating ants, termites, caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, seeds, nuts, acorns, grain, and berries. In winter, the flocks feed at newly-sown fields or in over-wintered stubble where seeds can be found. The Alabama yellowhammer seeks out rotten or hollow trees, fence posts, earthen banks, grassy ditches, dense shrubs, and hedgerows for nesting because it does not have the ability to drill into hard wood as do most woodpeckers. The female incubates the eggs, and both parents feed the young.

Close-up

STATUS

Official

ALSO KNOWN AS

Yellow-shafted flicker, northern flicker, red-shafted flicker, Southern flicker, common flicker, flicker

PHYSICAL DETAILS

	Male	Female
Size	Length to end of tail: 12.5 in (32 cm) Wing from flexure: 17-20 in (43-50 cm) Length of tail: 4 in (10 cm)	Length to end of tail: 12.5 in (32 cm) Wing from flexure: 17-20 in (43-50 cm) Length of tail: 4 in (10 cm)
Weight	3.9 to 5.7 ounces     (110-160 g)	3.9 to 5.7 ounces      (110-160 g)

BEHAVIOR

Yellowhammers extract the acid from ants and rub it into their skin to keep them free of parasites. Courtship rituals are noisy affairs that involve a face-to-face display between the male and female with calling, drumming, wing and tail flashing, and head-bobbing. Territorial displays can be aggressive and involve head-bobbing, fanning tail feathers, and threatening with the beak. In fall and winter yellowhammers form loose flocks of up to 1,000 birds.

HABITAT

Open forests, woodlots, groves, farms, towns, hedgerows, ditches, and lowland forests.

Range: Widespread and common throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Migration: Breeds in northern Canada and Alaska and migrates south to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
Conservation Status: Least Concern (LC)

NESTING

Nesting period: April to July
Size of Clutch: 5-8 eggs
Incubation Period: 11-14 days
Egg Description: Whitish with purple-black irregular lines
Egg Size: 1.1 in (27.9 mm)

SIMILAR SPECIES

Ladder-backed woodpecker, gilded flicker, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, golden-fronted woodpecker

TRIVIA

• Alabama is the only state to choose a woodpecker as its state bird. 
• The Alabama yellowhammer eats more ants than any other North American bird and is also able to eat the berry of the poison ivy plant. 
• The term yellowhammer originated during the Civil War as a reference to soldiers from the state of Alabama serving the Confederacy. It came about from the homemade uniforms of Alabama volunteers that had yellow trim around the sleeves and collar. After the war, "yallerhammer" clubs were established in many cities, and Alabama veterans often wore yellowhammer feathers in their hatbands and coat lapels. The state is still referred to as the "Yellowhammer State."

Fish: 

Tarpon (common name) Megalops atlanticus (scientific name) Overview The tarpon is a very long, thick, and powerful fish that is considered one of the world’s most exciting sport fish. It is bright silver with large, hard scales that have a blue-green tinge. The tarpon has a large mouth with an elongated lower jaw and a deeply forked tail. It has very fine teeth and typically swallows its prey whole after crushing it in its powerful jaws. The tarpon is migratory and will move to where food is plentiful based on the season. Female tarpons are larger than males. The fighting tarpon was designated the Alabama state fish in 1955, and changed to the state saltwater fish in 1975 when the largemouth bass was adopted as the state freshwater fish. Close-up STATUS Official PHYSICAL DETAILS Length: Up to 8 ft (249 cm) Weight: Up to 355 pounds (161 kg);average 25 lbs (11 kg) LIFESPAN Up to 55 years HABITAT Saltwater and brackish water in shallow coastal areas and mangrove swamps. Range: From the Atlantic coast of North Carolina, around the Florida Keys, along the Gulf of Mexico to Central America, and as far south as Brazil. In the western Atlantic it ranges from the Atlantic coast of southern France to the Azores and south along the African coast to Angola.   Water type: Saltwater, brackish, and freshwater Water temp: 74-88°F (23-31 C) Conservation Status: Threatened DIET Young tarpon feed on plankton and insects, while adults eat mullets, pinfish, marine catfish, Atlantic needlefish, sardines, shrimp, and crabs. REPRODUCTION Fertilization: External Spawning frequency: Between May and September Mating behavior: Distinct pairing Egg laying: The spawning season of the tarpon is between May and September. The female can lay 12 million eggs that hatch in a day or two. USES Game fish OTHER NAMES silver king, silver sides, sabalo TRIVIA The tarpon’s genus name, Megalops, means "large-eyed" in Greek and refers to the fish’s distinctive eyes, which allow it to see in murky coastal waters. The tarpon produces a thumping sound with its "swim bladder" (an air sac that allows it to breathe in oxygen-deprived, shallow waters) when it senses danger from predators like sharks, dolphins, and alligators.
	Click to enlarge an image Tarpon Tarpon Chasing Small Fish CLASSIFICATION Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Elopiformes Family: Megalopidae Genus: Megalops Species: M. atlanticus
	Raw Data Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Author: World Trade Press

Alabama State Freshwater Fish

Largemouth Bass (common name) Micropterus salmoides (scientific name) Status: official Overview The largemouth bass is highly prized as a sport fish for its size and fighting ability. It lives in clear, quiet, vegetation-rich waters, favoring water shallower than 2.5 meters. Abundant vegetation provides protection against predators and also harbors prey, which the bass ambushes from spots where it lies in wait. This fish was designated the official state freshwater fish of Alabama in 1975 (the fighting tarpon is the state saltwater fish). The largemouth bass is also the state fish of Georgia and Mississippi, the state freshwater fish of Florida, and the state sport fish of Tennessee. Close-up PHYSICAL DETAILS Length: Up to 21 inches (53 cm) Weight: Up to 25 pounds (11 kg) LIFESPAN Up to 15 years HABITAT Range: Its native range runs north as far as Hudson Bay, west to the Rockies, and south through Florida and into northern Mexico. Its introduced range includes areas of the U.K., Europe, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa, the western half of the continental U.S., Caribbean territories, South America, Asia, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, Mauritius, Madagascar, Fiji, Guam, New Caledonia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Water type: Freshwater Water temp: 68-72°F Conservation Status: Least Concern DIET Younger largemouth consume mostly small baitfish, amphipods, and insects. Adults consume smaller fish, crawfish, frogs, snakes, salamanders, bats and even small water birds, mammals, and baby alligators. In larger lakes and reservoirs, adult bass occupy deeper water than younger fish and shift to a diet consisting almost entirely of smaller fish like shad, trout, ciscoes, shiners, and sunfish. Prey can be as large as 25 to 35% of the bass' body length. REPRODUCTION Fertilization: External Spawning frequency: Once each year Mating behavior: Distinct pairing Egg laying: Female will lay 2,000–7,000 eggs either in one nest or in several nests. USES Extremely popular sport fish OTHER NAMES Wide mouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucket mouth, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, line sides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth and northern largemouth. TRIVIA Introduced bass affect populations of small native fishes through predation, sometimes resulting in the decline or extinction of such species. Studies have shown that largemouth bass are capable of displacing native species, even predatory species such as northern pike.