Canadian Province - Ontario

The Province of Ontario is found in southeastern Canada above the Great Lakes and between Manitoba and Quebec. Ontario contains Ottawa, Canada's capital, and Toronto, the Province Capital and Canada's most populated city.
Ontario is a huge province covering about 260-million acres (415,600 square miles or 1,076,400 square km). Two thirds of Ontario is covered by forest – boreal forest in the north and hardwood and mixed deciduous forest in the south. There are 213 million acres (862,000 square km) of boreal forest making up 15% of Canada's boreal forest. The territory has a herd of 5,000 woodland caribou and is breeding ground for more than 250 species of birds. As many as 400 million birds breed there each year.

In the Hudson Bay Lowlands in northern Ontario, the land is flat and wet with thousands of small lakes, sporadic forest, and expanses of open muskeg (bogs and fens). It has subarctic barrens with black and white spruce, tamarack and willow trees. This area has about 20% of Ontario's forest and wildlife like: woodland caribou, polar bear, arctic fox, and arctic hare. It is a region rich in summer habitat for breeding migratory birds. Few people live in this region.
South of the Hudson Bay Lowlands is Ontario's Boreal Forest covering 125 million acres (50 million hectares). This huge region has two thirds of Ontario's forest with black and white spruce, jack pine, balsam fir, tamarack and eastern white cedar, poplars and white birch. This region is rich habitat for many species like black bear, wolf, lynx, moose, caribou and many birds.
South of the Boreal Forest is Ontario's Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest extending from along the St. Lawrence River across central Ontario to Lake Huron and west of Lake Superior along the border with Minnesota. The forest here is made up of white, red and jack pine, eastern hemlock, white cedar, white and black spruce, yellow and white birch, sugar and red maple, basswood and red oak. This region is rich habitat for many species like white-tailed deer, moose, black bear, wolves, pileated woodpecker, various migratory birds, beaver, muskrat, otter and many other mammals, birds, fish and insects.
Furthest south is a small region of Deciduous Forest including the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley and part of the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ecoregion. This is the most diverse of Ontario's forest and contains the species of the northern forests as well as black walnut, butternut, tulip, magnolia, black gum, many oaks, hickories, sassafras and red bud. Though a small area, only making up 1% of Canada, this southern region is home to more than 25% of Canadians and 90% of Ontario's people. Ironically, this rich, diverse region is stressed by high population and urban development. It includes Niagara Falls and the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

Ontario is also broken down by scientists into natural communities called "Ecozones."
Ontario is mostly Boreal Shield Ecozone. This huge ecozone stretches all across Canada with rolling hills covered in boreal forest. Millions of lakes were left by the retreat of the glaciers. These, along with with its abundant bogs and fens found throughout the region, make it a popular breeding ground for waterfowl. The forests here include: black and white spruce, jack pine, green alder, paper, white and dwarf birch, tamarack, balsam fir, quaking aspen, and balsam poplar. The region supports black bear, wolf, lynx, moose, barren-ground and woodland caribou, coyote, weasel, wolverine, river otter, red and arctic fox, muskrat, marten, mink, beaver, voles, red squirrels, and snowshoe hare.
In northeastern Ontario, along the Hudson Bay, is the Hudson Plains Ecozone. This region is a lowland plain dominated by wetlands – peat bogs and fens and with coastal beaches and mudflats. This is vital habitat for migrating birds. There is a permafrost and long, very cold winters. Summers are short and cool. Polar bears frequent the coastal region as do breeding waterfowl. Woodland caribou, moose, black bear, fisher, marten, and arctic fox roam the inland wetlands. Humans use the region for outdoor recreation, including ecotourism where they view wildlife.
South of the Boreal Shield is the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone. This region makes up less than 10% of Ontario, but contains mixed and hardwood forests, wetlands and some prairie. This is considered the northern end of the eastern temperate deciduous forest with trees like: eastern white and red pines, eastern hemlock, yellow birch, sugar maple, red oak, basswood and elm. The region has a rich diversity of wetlands adjacent to the Great Lakes and both the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers - though many have been damaged or destroyed by development. Wildlife here includes: white-tailed deer, coyote, weasel, red fox, badger, raccoon, striped skunk, muskrat, beaver, woodchuck, gray squirrel and snowshoe hare.
This region is the most highly populated in Ontario, so much of the natural habitat has been converted to agriculture, recreation and urban development.

Mammals:

Badger (American) - Taxidea taxus
Bat (Big Brown) - Eptesicus fuscus
Bat (Eastern Red) - Lasiurus borealis
Bat (Eastern Pipistrelle) - Pipistrellus subflavus
Bat (Eastern Small-footed) - Myotis leibii
Bat (Hoary) - Lasiurus cinereus
Bat (Little Brown Myotis) - Myotis lucifugus
Bat (Northern long-eared) - Myotis septentrionalis
Bat (Silver-haired) - Lasionycteris noctivagans
Bear (Black) - Ursus americanus
Bear (Polar) - Ursus maritimus
Beaver - Castor canadensis
Bison - Bison bison
Bobcat - Lynx rufus
Caribou - Rangifer tarandus
Chipmunk (Eastern) - Tamias striatus
Chipmunk (Least) - Tamias minimus
Coyote - Canis latrans
Deer (White-tailed)  - Odocoileus virginianus
Elk - Cervus canadensis
Fisher - Martes pennanti
Fox (Arctic) - Alopex lagopus
Fox (Gray) - Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Fox (Red) - Vulpes vulpes
Hare (Snowshoe) - Lepus americanus
Jackrabbit (White-tailed) - Lepus townsendii
Lemming (Northern Bog) - Synaptomys borealis
Lemming (Southern Bog) - Synaptomys cooperi
Lynx (Canadian) - Lynx canadensis
Marten (American) - Martes americana
Mink (American) - Neovison vison
Mole (Eastern) - Scalopus aquaticus
Mole (Hairy-tailed) - Parascalops breweri
Mole (Star-nosed) - Condylura cristata
Moose - Alces alces
Mouse (Deer) - Peromyscus maniculatus
Mouse (House) - Mus musculus - Introduced
Mouse (White-footed) - Peromyscus leucopus
Mouse (Woodland Jumping) - Napaeozapus insignis
Muskrat  - Ondatra zibethicus
Opossum (Virginia) - Didelphis virginiana
Otter (River) - Lontra canadensis
Pocket Gopher (Northern) - Thomomys talpoides
Pocket Gopher (Plains) - Geomys bursarius
Porcupine - Erethizon dorsatum
Rabbit (Eastern Cottontail) - Sylvilagus floridanus
Raccoon - Procyon lotor
Rat (Norway) - Rattus norvegicus
Shrew (American Water) - Sorex palustris
Shrew (Black-backed) - Sorex arcticus
Shrew (Common or Masked) - Sorex cinereus
Shrew (Prairie) - Sorex haydeni
Shrew (Pygmy) - Microsorex hoyi
Shrew (Short-tailed) - Blarina brevicauda
Shrew (Smoky) - Sorex fumeus
Skunk (Striped) - Mephitis mephitis
Squirrel (Eastern Gray) - Sciurus carolinensis
Squirrel (Fox) - Sciurus niger
Squirrel (Franklin's Ground) - Spermophilus franklinii
Squirrel (Northern Flying) - Glaucomys sabrinus
Squirrel (Red) - Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
Squirrel (Southern Flying)  - Glaucomys volans
Vole (Heather) - Phenacomys intermedius
Vole (Meadow) - Microtus pennsylvanicus
Vole (Southern Red-backed) - Clethrionomys gapperi
Vole (Woodland) - Microtus pinetorum
Weasel (Least) - Mustela nivalis
Weasel (Long-tailed) - Mustela frenata
Weasel (Short-tailed or Ermine) - Mustela erminea
Wolf (Gray) - Canis lupus
Wolverine - Gulo gulo
Woodchuck  - Marmota monax

For more details about Ontario's mammals: LINK

Birds:
albatross (yellow-nosed)
anhinga
ani (groove-billed)
avocet (American)
bittern (American)
bittern (least)
blackbird (Brewer's)
blackbird (Eurasian)
blackbird (red-winged)
blackbird (rusty)
blackbird (yellow-headed)
bluebird (eastern)
bluebird (mountain)
bobolink
bobwhite (northern)
brambling
bunting (indigo)
bunting (lark)
bunting (lazuli)
bunting (painted)
bunting (snow)
bunting (varied)
caracara (crested)
cardinal (northern)
catbird (gray)
chat (yellow-breasted)
chickadee (black-capped)
chickadee (boreal)
chickadee (Carolina)
Chuck-will's-widow
coot (American)
cormorant (double-crested)
cormorant (great)
cormorant (neotropic)
cowbird (brown-headed)
crane (sandhill)
crane (whooping)
creeper (brown)
crossbill (red)
crossbill (white-winged)
crow (American)
crow (fish)
cuckoo (black-billed)
cuckoo (yellow-billed)
curlew (Eskimo)
curlew (long-billed)
curlew (slender-billed)
dove (common ground)
dove (Eurasian collared)
dove (Inca)
dove (mourning)
dove (rock)
dove (white-winged)
dovekie
dowitcher (long-billed)
dowitcher (short-billed)
duck (American black)
duck (American widgeon)
duck (Barrow's goldeneye)
duck (black-bellied)
duck (black scoter)
duck (blue-winged teal)
duck (bufflehead)
duck (canvasback)
duck (cinnamon teal)
duck (common eider)
duck (common goldeneye)
duck (Eurasian widgeon)
duck (fulvous whistling)
duck (gadwall)
duck (garganey)
duck (greater scaup)
duck (green-winged teal)
duck (harlequin)
duck (king eider)
duck (lesser scaup)
duck (long-tailed or oldsquaw)
duck (mallard)
duck (mottled)
duck (northern pintail)
duck (northern shoveler)
duck (redhead)
duck (ring-necked)
duck (ruddy)
duck (smew)
duck (surf scoter)
duck (tufted)
duck (white-winged scoter)
duck (wood)
dunlin
eagle (bald)
eagle (golden)
egret (cattle)
egret (great)
egret (snowy)
falcon (gyrfalcon)
falcon (peregrine)
falcon (prairie)
fieldfare
finch (Cassin's)
finch (gray-crowned rosy-)
finch (house)
finch (purple)
flicker (northern)
frigatebird (magnificent)
flycatcher (Acadian)
flycatcher (alder)
flycatcher (ash-throated)
flycatcher (dusky)
flycatcher (fork-tailed)
flycatcher (gray)
flycatcher (great-crested)
flycatcher (least)
flycatcher (olive-sided)
flycatcher (scissor-tailed)
flycatcher (sulfur-bellied)
flycatcher (variegated)
flycatcher (vermillion)
flycatcher (willow)
flycatcher (yellow-bellied)
fulmar (northern)
gallinule (common)
gallinule (purple)
gannet (northern)
gnatcatcher (blue-gray)
godwit (Hudsonian)
godwit (marbled)
goldfinch (American)
goldfinch (lesser)
goose (barnacle)
goose (brant)
goose (Canada)
goose (great white-fronted)
goose (Ross's)
goose (snow)
grackle (common)
grackle (great-tailed)
grèbe (eared)
grèbe (horned)
grèbe (pied-billed)
grèbe (red-necked)
grèbe (western)
grosbeak (black-headed)
grosbeak (blue)
grosbeak (evening)
grosbeak (pine)
grosbeak (rose-breasted)
grouse (ruffed)
grouse (sharp-tailed)
grouse (spruce)
guillemot (black)
gull (black-headed)
gull (black-tailed)
gull (Bonaparte’s)
gull (California)
gull (Franklin's)
gull (glaucous)
gull (great black-backed)
gull (Heermann's)
gull (herring)
gull (Iceland)
gull (kelp)
gull (ivory)
gull (laughing)
gull (lesser black-backed)
gull (little)
gull (mew)
gull (ring-billed)
gull (Ross's)
gull (Sabine's)
gull (slaty-backed)
gull (Thayer's)
harrier (northern)
hawk (broad-winged)
hawk (Cooper's)
hawk (ferruginous)
hawk (northern goshawk)
hawk (red-shouldered)
hawk (red-tailed)
hawk (rough-legged)
hawk (sharp-shinned)
hawk (Swainson's)
heron (black-crowned night)
heron (great blue)
heron (green)
heron (little blue)
heron (tricolored)
heron (yellow-crowned night)
hummingbird (Anna's)
hummingbird (black-billed)
hummingbird (green violetear)
hummingbird (ruby-throated)
hummingbird (rufous)
ibis (glossy)
ibis (white)
ibis (white-faced)
jackdaw (Eurasian)
jaeger (long-tailed)
jaeger (parasitic)
jaeger (pomarine)
jay (blue)
jay (Clark's nutcracker)
jay (gray)
junco (dark-eyed)
kestrel (American)
killdeer
kingbird (Cassin's)
kingbird (eastern)
kingbird (gray)
kingbird (thick-billed)
kingbird (tropical)
kingbird (western)
kingfisher (belted)
kinglet (golden-crowned)
kinglet (ruby-crowned)
kite (Mississippi)
kite (swallow-tailed)
kittiwake (black-legged)
knot (red)
lark (horned)
longspur (chestnut-collared)
longspur (Lapland)
longspur (McCown's)
longspur (Smith's)
loon (common)
loon (Pacific)
loon (red-throated)
loon (yellow-billed)
magpie (black-billed)
martin (purple)
meadowlark (eastern)
meadowlark (western)
merganser (common)
merganser (hooded)
merganser (red-breasted)
merlin
mockingbird (northern)
murre (thick-billed)
murrelet (ancient)
nighthawk (common)
nighthawk (lesser)
nuthatch (red-breasted)
nuthatch (white-breasted)
oriole (Baltimore)
oriole (Bullock's)
oriole (hooded)
oriole (orchard)
oriole (Scott's)
osprey
ovenbird
owl (barn)
owl (barred)
owl (boreal)
owl (burrowing)
owl (great gray)
owl (great horned)
owl (eastern screech)
owl (long-eared)
owl (northern hawk)
owl (northern saw-whet)
owl (short-eared)
owl (snowy)
oystercatcher (American)
partridge (gray)
parula (northern)
pelican (American white)
pelican (brown)
petrel (black-capped)
pewee (eastern wood)
pewee (western wood)
phainopepla
phalarope (red)
phalarope (red-necked)
phalarope (Wilson's)
pheasant (ring-necked)
phoebe (eastern)
phoebe (Say's)
pigeon (band-tailed)
pipit (American)
pipit (Sprague's)
plover (American golden)
plover (black-bellied)
plover (lesser sand-)
plover (piping)
plover (semipalmated)
plover (snowy)
plover (Wilson's)
poorwill (common)
prairie chicken (greater)
ptarmigan (rock)
ptarmigan (willow)
puffin (Atlantic)
pyrrhuloxia
rail (black)
rail (king)
rail (sora)
rail (Virginia)
rail (yellow)
raven (common)
razorbill
redpoll (common)
redpoll (hoary)
redshank (spotted)
redstart (American)
robin (American)
rubythroat (Siberian)
ruff
sanderling
sandpiper (Baird's)
sandpiper (buff-breasted)
sandpiper (curlew)
sandpiper (least)
sandpiper (pectoral)
sandpiper (purple)
sandpiper (semipalmated)
sandpiper (sharp-tailed)
sandpiper (solitary)
sandpiper (spotted)
sandpiper (stilt)
sandpiper (upland)
sandpiper (western)
sandpiper (white-rumped)
sapsucker (yellow-bellied)
shearwater (Audubon's)
shearwater (great)
shearwater (manx)
shrike (loggerhead)
shrike (northern)
siskin (pine)
skimmer (black)
skua (pomarine)
solitaire (Townsend's)
snipe  (Wilson's)
sparrow (American tree)
sparrow (Bachman's)
sparrow (Baird's)
sparrow (black-throated)
sparrow (Brewer's)
sparrow (Cassin's)
sparrow (chipping)
sparrow (clay-colored)
sparrow (Eurasian tree)
sparrow (field)
sparrow (fox)
sparrow (golden-crowned)
sparrow (grasshopper)
sparrow (Harris's)
sparrow (Henslow's)
sparrow (house)
sparrow (lark)
sparrow (Le Conte's)
sparrow (Lincoln's)
sparrow (Nelson's)
sparrow (Savannah)
sparrow (song)
sparrow (swamp)
sparrow (vesper)
sparrow (white-crowned)
sparrow (white-throated)
spoonbill (roseate)
starling
stilt (black-necked)
stilt (little)
stork (wood)
storm-petrel (band-tailed)
storm-petrel (Leach's)
storm-petrel (Wilson's)
swallow (bank)
swallow (barn)
swallow (cave)
swallow (cliff)
swallow (northern rough-winged)
swallow (tree)
swallow (violet-green)
swan (mute)
swan (trumpeter)
swan (tundra)
swift (black)
swift (chimney)
swift (white-collared)
tanager (scarlet)
tanager (summer)
tanager (western)
tattler (wandering)
tern (Arctic)
tern (black)
tern (Caspian)
tern (common)
tern (Forster's)
tern (least)
tern (royal)
tern (sandwich)
tern (sooty)
tern (white-winged black)
thrasher (brown)
thrasher (curve-billed)
thrasher (sage)
thrush (Biacknell's)
thrush (gray-cheeked)
thrush (hermit)
thrush (Swainson's)
thrush (varied)
thrush (wood)
titmouse (tufted)
towhee (eastern)
towhee (green-tailed)
towhee (spotted)
turkey (wild)
turnstone (ruddy)
veery
vireo (Bell's)
vireo (black-capped)
vireo (blue-headed)
vireo (Philadelphia)
vireo (plumbeous)
vireo (red-eyed)
vireo (white-eyed)
vireo (warbling)
vireo (yellow-throated)
vulture (black)
vulture (turkey)
warbler (bay-breasted)
warbler (blackburnian)
warbler (blackpoll)
warbler (black-and-white)
warbler (black-throated blue)
warbler (black-throated gray)
warbler (black-throated green)
warbler (blue-winged)
warbler (Canada)
warbler (Cape May)
warbler (cerulean)
warbler (chestnut-sided)
warbler (Connecticut)
warbler (golden-winged)
warbler (hooded)
warbler (Kentucky)
warbler (Kirkland's)
warbler (MacGillivray's)
warbler (magnolia)
warbler (mourning)
warbler (Nashville)
warbler (orange-crowned)
warbler (palm)
warbler (pine)
warbler (prairie)
warbler (prothonotary)
warbler (Swainson's)
warbler (Tennessee)
warbler (Virginia)
warbler (Wilson's)
warbler (worm-eating)
warbler (yellow)
warbler (yellow-rumped)
warbler (yellow-throated)
waterthrush (Louisiana)
waterthrush (northern)
waxwing (Bohemian)
waxwing (cedar)
wheatear (northern)
whimbrel
whip-poor-will (eastern)
willet
woodcock (American)
woodpecker (American three-toed)
woodpecker (black-backed)
woodpecker (downy)
woodpecker (hairy)
woodpecker (Lewis's)
woodpecker (pileated)
woodpecker (red-bellied)
woodpecker (red-headed)
woodpecker (yellow-bellied)
wren (Bewick's)
wren (Carolina)
wren (house)
wren (marsh)
wren (rock)
wren (sedge)
wren (winter)
yellowlegs (greater)
yellowlegs (lesser)
yellowthroat (common)

For more details about Ontario's birds: LINK

Amphibians:
bullfrog (American) - Lithobates catesbeianus
frog (boreal chorus) - Pseudacris maculate
frog (green) - Lithobates clamitans
frog (mink) - Lithobates septentrionalis
frog (northern cricket) - Acris crepitans
frog (pickerel) - Lithobates palustris
frog (western chorus) - Pseudacris triseriata
frog (wood) - Lithobates sylvaticus
salamander (Allegheny Mountain Dusky) - Desmognathus ochrophaeus
salamander (blue-spotted) - Ambystoma laterale
salamander (eastern newt) - Notophthalmus viridescens
salamander (eastern red-backed) - Plethodon cinereus
salamander (eastern tiger) - Ambystoma tigrinum
salamander (four-toed) - Hemidactylium scutatum
salamander (Jefferson) - Ambystoma jeffersonianum
salamander (mudpuppy) - Necturus maculosus
salamander (northern dusky) - Desmognathus fuscus
salamander (northern two-lined) - Eurycea bislineata
salamander (small-mouthed) - Ambystoma texanum
salamander (spotted) - Ambystoma maculatum
spring peeper - Pseudacris crucifer
toad (American) - Anaxyrus americanus
toad (Fowler's) - Anaxyrus fowleri
treefrog (gray) - Hyla versicolor

Reptiles:
skink (five-lined) - Plestiodon fasciatus
snake (blue racer) - Coluber constrictor foxi
snake (Butler's garter) - Thamnophis butleri
snake (DeKay's brown) - Storeria dekayi
snake (eastern fox) - Pantherophis gloydi
snake (eastern garter) - Thamnophis sirtalis
snake (eastern hog-nosed) - Heterodon platirhinos
snake (eastern massasauga) - Sistrurus catenatus
snake (gray rat) - Pantherophis spiloides
snake (Lake Erie water) - Nerodia sipedon insularum
snake (milk) - Lampropeltis triangulum
snake (northern ribbon) - Thamnophis sauritus
snake (northern ring-necked) - Diadophis punctatus
snake (northern water) - Nerodia sipedon sipedon
snake (Queen) - Regina septemvittata
snake (red-bellied) - Storeria occipitomaculata
snake (red-sided garter) - Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis
snake (smooth green) - Opheodrys vernalis
snake (timber rattlesnake) - Crotalus horridus
turtle (Blanding's) - Emydoidea blandingii
turtle (eastern box) - Terrapene carolina
turtle (eastern musk) - Sternotherus odoratus
turtle (Midland painted) - Chrysemys picta marginata
turtle (northern map) - Graptemys geographica
turtle (snapping) - Chelydra serpentina
turtle (spiny softshell) - Apalone spinifera
turtle (spotted) - Clemmys guttata
turtle (western painted) - Chrysemys picta bellii
turtle (wood) - Glyptemys insculpta

For more details about Ontario's amphibian and reptile: LINK

Wild Science Workbook
Activities that Bridge Outdoor Exploration with Classroom Science
The activities in Wild Science will integrate outdoor exploration with the understanding and appreciation of science and environmental issues.

Using Wild Science as a guide, we invite you to rediscover your sense of wonder about the natural world and share it with the children you know.