The Black-Crowned Night Heron lives almost everywhere in the USA, From the Great Lakes to Hawaii. This heron feeds on a diet of fish, and the occasional frog or newt. In the Great Lakes, it does not exactly live but stays there for the summer. This heron is one of the smaller herons, weighing 25 lbs.

Below: In Hawaii’s forested floodplains, the Black-Crowned Night Heron, along with a few other birds, like Ibis, live on fish and amphibians, spearing them up with their sharp beaks.

In much of Western North America, the California Quail thrives. In Quails, the male is always told apart from the female because of their small top knot, which protrudes from the top. These are one of the 5 or so Quail Species that live in the USA.

These are two Quails (but one is from Nevada, while the other is from California.) The bottom Quail is a Gambel’s Quail, and the other one is a  California Quail.

The Turkey bird is one of the most famous birds. The Wild Turkey itself is one of the turkey species which dominates much of the East, south, and parts of the West, like California. Despite their gentle looks, the wild turkey is so dangerous it will chase away any intruder, even if it is a human, a bird of prey, or an another male turkey. If scared, they will run away from danger at quite high speeds.

Photo: A female Wild Turkey walks in a patch of grass near some forested Hills in Rancho San Antonio Park, CA.

The California Condor is a bird of prey that was nearly extinct in the 1970s’. Then scientists and ornithologists started to protect the birds. The California Condor is not the only Condor. The Andean Condor, another Condor, lives in the high Mountain range that borders Chile and Argentina.

Photo: A trio of California Condors drying their wings after a heavy downpour near Grand Canyon, AZ.