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Wildlife near Charlotte, North Carolina

Illustrated wildlife of Charlotte

Charlotte sits in the Carolina piedmont, where old hardwood forest still runs right up to the office parks. Gray squirrels and northern cardinals are the constant backdrop, but the greenways along Little Sugar Creek and the woods around the Catawba are where it gets interesting: red-tailed hawks working the tree lines, barred owls calling after dark, and copperheads that people meet more often than they would like in late summer. Spring and fall migration push warblers and tanagers through the canopy.

Everything below is pulled live from recent research-grade observations near Charlotte. Browse by group, explore the map, and identify what you find with Huck.

36,477
recent observations
30
species listed
9
reptiles & amphibians
8
birds
6
insects & arthropods

Naturalists have logged 36,477 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Charlotte. The most frequently seen is the Green Anole, with 2,787 recorded sightings.

Reptiles & Amphibians account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (9 of the species listed here), followed by birds (8).

🖨️ Printable wildlife checklist

Most-observed species near Charlotte

Green Anole
Anolis carolinensis
2,787 observations
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis
1,848 observations
Common Box Turtle
Terrapene carolina
1,788 observations
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus
1,760 observations
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
1,507 observations
American sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
1,390 observations
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
1,358 observations
Asian Lady Beetle
Harmonia axyridis
1,351 observations
White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
1,341 observations
Fowler's Toad
Anaxyrus fowleri
1,265 observations
Green Treefrog
Dryophytes cinereus
1,231 observations · iNaturalist
Red-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus
1,226 observations
Central Ratsnake
Pantherophis alleghaniensis
1,193 observations
Eastern Bluebird
Sialia sialis
1,132 observations
Eastern Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa virginica
1,132 observations
DeKay's Brownsnake
Storeria dekayi
1,110 observations
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
1,106 observations
white clover
Trifolium repens
1,056 observations
Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
996 observations
American pokeweed
Phytolacca americana
990 observations
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
980 observations
Canada Goose
Branta canadensis
962 observations
Common Eastern Bumble Bee
Bombus impatiens
920 observations
Pond Slider
Trachemys scripta
917 observations
Cope's Gray Tree Frog
Dryophytes chrysoscelis
908 observations · iNaturalist
Common Five-lined Skink
Plestiodon fasciatus
906 observations
Christmas fern
Polystichum acrostichoides
843 observations
Red-spotted Admiral
Limenitis arthemis
836 observations
Yellow Garden Spider
Argiope aurantia
827 observations
American tuliptree
Liriodendron tulipifera
811 observations

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