Wildlife near Madison, WI
Madison sits on an isthmus between two big lakes in southern Wisconsin, and the water is central. Sandhill cranes nest in the surrounding marshes, common loons and mergansers turn up on the lakes, and the university arboretum, birthplace of restoration ecology, holds white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and restored prairie full of birds. In winter the open water below the locks draws eagles and rafts of ducks.
Everything below is pulled live from recent research-grade observations near Madison. Browse by group, explore the map, and identify what you find with Huck.
Naturalists have logged 50,766 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Madison. The most frequently seen is the Common Eastern Bumble Bee, with 4,131 recorded sightings.
Plants account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (13 of the species listed here), followed by birds (8).
Most-observed species near Madison
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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