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Wildlife near Cleveland, OH

Illustrated wildlife of Cleveland

Cleveland lines up along Lake Erie, and the lakefront is a migration magnet. Warblers and sparrows pile into the shoreline parks each spring, walleye and steelhead run the rivers, and bald eagles have returned to nest in the Cuyahoga Valley just south. The Metroparks ring the city with real forest, holding white-tailed deer, coyotes, and barred owls, and the lake keeps rafts of ducks offshore all winter.

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

61,876
recent observations
30
species listed
8
birds
8
insects & arthropods
7
plants

Naturalists have logged 61,876 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Cleveland. The most frequently seen is the White-tailed Deer, with 3,460 recorded sightings.

Birds account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (8 of the species listed here), followed by insects & arthropods (8).

🖨️ Printable wildlife checklist

Most-observed species near Cleveland

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
3,460 observations
Monarch
Danaus plexippus
2,943 observations
American Robin
Turdus migratorius
2,781 observations
Common Eastern Bumble Bee
Bombus impatiens
2,748 observations
Common Garter Snake
Thamnophis sirtalis
2,694 observations
American Toad
Anaxyrus americanus
2,580 observations
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
2,535 observations
Canada Goose
Branta canadensis
2,500 observations
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias
2,306 observations
Painted Turtle
Chrysemys picta
2,289 observations
Mayapple
Podophyllum peltatum
2,289 observations
Eastern Red-backed Salamander
Plethodon cinereus
2,271 observations
Eastern Fox Squirrel
Sciurus niger
2,173 observations
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
2,059 observations
Western Honey Bee
Apis mellifera
2,033 observations
Spotted Lanternfly
Lycorma delicatula
1,871 observations
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
1,843 observations
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus
1,766 observations
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
1,636 observations
North American Green Frog
Lithobates clamitans
1,633 observations
Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Arisaema triphyllum
1,605 observations
Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
1,597 observations
Virginia Springbeauty
Claytonia virginica
1,597 observations
Blue Dasher
Pachydiplax longipennis
1,585 observations
Common Jewelweed
Impatiens capensis
1,582 observations
Yellow Trout Lily
Erythronium americanum
1,554 observations
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
1,522 observations
Common Whitetail
Plathemis lydia
1,483 observations
Eastern Forktail
Ischnura verticalis
1,475 observations
American Beech
Fagus grandifolia
1,466 observations

Built from recent research-grade iNaturalist observations. Identifications are community-sourced and may occasionally be wrong, and the ranking reflects where people record and photograph wildlife, so a species seen often here is not necessarily rare elsewhere. Some plants and animals are only out in certain seasons. Treat this as a lively snapshot of what people are finding, not a formal checklist.

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