y? o u n g mariners 



Rare Finds in Wetlands 



Picture this. Four large paw prints 

 look like stamps in the sand. Down 

 the road, more bear prints follow into 

 the woods. 



In wetlands, it's easy to be a 

 detective, searching for clues to the 

 animals that live there. Trees, 

 channels, ponds, brush and mud all 

 make good homes for birds, reptiles, 

 amphibians, insects and mammals. 



Harder to find are 

 endangered or threat- 

 ened plants and 

 animals. The U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife 

 Service and the state 

 of North Carolina 

 have long lists of 

 species that need 

 special protection. 

 Wetlands make up 5 

 percent of the nation's 

 land, but more than 

 one-third of the rare 

 and endangered 

 species depend on 

 these areas for breed- 

 ing, nesting and feeding grounds. 



The next time you visit a wet- 

 land, take a pair of binoculars and a 

 camera. See if you can find some of 

 these plants and animals. 



Bald eagle - These dark brown 

 birds of prey have white heads and 

 tails. Sometimes you can see them 

 soaring above lakes, rivers and 

 marshes. In flight, their wingspan 

 may reach 6 feet across. They swoop 

 down to the water to feed on fish, 

 herons, small mammals and wounded 

 ducks. Illegal shooting and water 

 pollution have diminished the number 

 of bald eagles. 



Red-cockaded woodpecker - 

 You may hear this woodpecker before 

 you see it. This endangered bird has a 

 black and white ladderback pattern on 



its back and white patches on its 

 cheeks. Its name comes from a red 

 spot found on the back of the male's 

 head. These striking birds prefer open 

 stands of longleaf, loblolly, shortleaf 

 and slash pines. They love to eat 

 wood-boring insects and frequently 

 feed on fire ants. Changes in land use 

 and a loss of habitat due to develop- 

 ment and clearing for timber planta- 



Fresh bear track, Pocosin Lakes 

 National Wildlife Refuge 



tions, for instance, have contributed to 

 the decline of this woodpecker. 

 Rough-leaf loosestrife - In 



America, 95 to 100 percent of these 

 federally endangered plants grow in 

 the savannas and pocosins of North 

 Carolina's coastal plain. Conversion 

 of these areas to pine plantations and 

 farms, as well as fire suppression, 

 have severely reduced the numbers of 

 this tall, showy flower. The rough-leaf 

 loosestrife grows on a stalk about 1 to 

 1 1/2 feet tall and has a spike of large 

 yellow flowers that typically bloom in 

 June. 



Venus' flytrap - This unusual 

 native plant lives in semi-bogs that 



don't get too wet or too dry. Flytraps 

 grow 4 to 12 inches tall and can be 

 found in about 100 locations in North 

 Carolina, especially in soggy ditches 

 of the lower coastal plain. It's easy to 

 pick out this intriguing plant with its 

 bristle-fringed leaf blades that make a 

 trap for insects. As insects touch 

 down on one of the two bright red 

 blades, a trigger near the center of the 

 blade springs and the 

 two halves snap shut. 

 Fewer and fewer 

 Venus' flytraps exist 

 because of poaching 

 and conversion of 

 wetlands. 



Wood stork -The 

 wood stork doesn't 

 nest in North Carolina, 

 but it is a fairly 

 common summer 

 resident around coastal 

 swamps, marshes and 

 mudflats. Full-grown 

 wood storks are large 

 white birds with black 

 flight feathers, dark 

 legs and bill, and a dark head without 

 feathers. Wood storks like to feed in 

 groups. With one foot, each bird stirs 

 the mud and water in front of it to 

 frighten fish and other small critters 

 from their hiding places. Then the 

 birds snatch whatever prey comes 

 their way. Their numbers have 

 decreased drastically since around 

 1950. Unstable habitat conditions in 

 Florida, their native state, continue to 

 threaten this wetland bird. Droughts 

 and increased water needs in south- 

 ern Florida draw down water in lakes 

 and ponds where wood storks feed. 

 Too little water, or too much, has 

 forced the wood stork northward to 

 find better habitats. 



Sarah Friday Peters 



14 MARCH I APRIL 1992 



