Wildlife Along the Nanticoke River
The diversity of forests, fields and shallow marshes, provides suitable habitat for a number of rare, threatened or endangered plant and animal species. The Nanticoke River Watershed harbors more rare plants than any other landscape on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Below are some of the wildlife that can be found in the Nanticoke watershed:
Ospreys - Breeds in variety of habitats with shallow water and large fish, including boreal forest ponds, desert salt-flat lagoons, temperate lakes, and tropical coasts. They can only be found on the Delmarva during the Summer breeding season.
Great Blue Heron - Found along calm freshwater and seacoasts. Usually nests in trees near water, but colonies can be found away from water
Black-Crowned Night Heron - Found in various wetland habitats, including salt, brackish, and freshwater marshes, swamps, streams, lakes, and agricultural fields.
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron - Their breeding habitat is swamps and marshes. They often nest in colonies, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs overhanging water
Barn Owls – The marshes are perfect barn owl habitat, so biologists have placed nest boxes along the Nanticoke Watershed in hopes of attracting nesting barn owls.
Wild Turkeys - Wild turkeys absent from the area for around 200 years, were released here and have established themselves. They have raised several groups of chicks, called "poults," and have been observed in the fields and forests searching for insects and seeds.
Mallard - Mallard pairs form long before the spring breeding season and are generally monogamous. Pairing takes place in the fall, but courtship can be seen all winter.
Wood Ducks - Extensive wood duck habitat is present in the wooded swamps that border the upper Nanticoke River and Marshyhope and Broad Creeks
Beavers - Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges. Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to float food and building material.
Otters - Otters are expert swimmers and divers, swimming at an average speed of seven miles per hour and staying underwater for up to 2 minutes. Unlike muskrats or beavers, the otter barely makes a ripple when swimming or splash when diving. Their specially built ears and nose have a valve-like skin that closes and keeps the otter watertight underwater. They are most active from early evening through early morning and are active all year.
Muskrats - The muskrat is found in wetlands and is a very successful animal over a wide range of climates and habitats. It plays an important role in nature and is a resource of food and fur for humans, as well as being an introduced species in much of its present range.
Nutria - The nutria is a South American rodent that was accidentally introduced to the area in the 1930’s, resulting in considerable damage to the wetland and field areas where they roam. Fortunately, recent efforts to control nutria are achieving significant results.
Delmarva Fox Squirrel - one of the rare animals that makes its home here and were once common throughout the Delmarva Peninsula. This large, steel-gray squirrel was declared endangered in 1967 and is currently found in only four counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in Sussex County, DE. The loss of suitable woodland habitat (due primarily to land clearing) is the major factor in the squirrel’s decline.
Red Fox – In the winter months the red fox will den below ground. The rest of the year, red fox spend almost all of their time above ground, resting in the shade of corn fields during the day, and prowling for food at night, at dusk, or in the early morning hours. Red fox almost always den within a few hundred yards of water, whether it is a stream or a pond, or merely a marshy area from which water can be lapped after a heavy rain.
Grey Fox - The gray fox's has the ability to climb trees. Its strong, hooked claws allow it to scramble up trees to escape predators such as the domestic dog or to reach food sources. It descends primarily by jumping from branch to branch, or by descending slowly backwards as a house cat. The gray fox is nocturnal dens in hollow trees, stumps or appropriated burrows during the day.
Diamondback Terrapins - The Diamondback terrapin is the only species of turtle in North America that spends its life in brackish water (salty but less so than sea water). Diamondbacks hibernate during the cold winter months buried in the mud.
Snapping Turtles - Common habitats are shallow ponds, shallow lakes, or streams. Some may inhabit brackish environments, such as estuaries. They sometimes lie beneath a muddy bottom with only the head exposed, stretching their long necks to the surface for an occasional breath. Snapping turtles are omnivores, important aquatic scavengers and are also active hunters that prey on anything they can swallow.
Carpenter Frog – They can be found near areas with lots of wet land masses and plant covering for security and tends to live in bogs and dense slow moving streams.
Eastern Tiger Salamander - The tiger salamander is one of the largest terrestrial salamanders in the United States The tiger salamander spends most of its life underground The tiger salamander inhabits sandy pine barren areas with temporary or permanent pools for breeding.
You can also follow Delaware's Birding Trail into the Nanticoke regions. Visit www.delawarebirdingtrail.org.
For more information on wildlife in Delaware, visit www.fw.delaware.gov//Hunting/Pages/wildlife.aspx
