Animals

Here you will be learning about animals and their adaptations. The taiga doesn’t have as many plant and animal species as the tropical or the deciduous forest biomes. However, it does have millions of insects in the summertime. Birds migrate there every year to nest and feed.

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Animals of the taiga have many specialized adaptions including lots of thick fur or feathers and the ability to change colors during different seasons.

Black Bears:

The American black bear is the smallest of the three bears species found in North America, and are found only in North America. They have short, non-retractable claws that give them an excellent tree-climbing ability. Black bears are omnivorous (this means that they eat both plants and meat).

Moose:

The moose is the largest animal in the taiga. Moose eat aquatic plants and grasses. Moose have many adaptations. They are one of the few species in the world that can eat and digest pine needles and spruce needles. This adaptation is essential to their survival in the winter. Their thick coats are also essential to keep warm in the winter. Their legs are very long which helps with navigation in deep snow. The moose is one of the only animals to live across almost all of the taiga.

Gray Wolf:

The gray wolf is the largest member of the canid family to live in the taiga. They are fierce predators that can hunt and kill very large mammals including moose, elk and caribou. The gray wolf has many adaptations. First, it has a social adaptation to live in packs. This feature enables the wolves to hunt large animals that would otherwise be unhuntable. Secondly, the gray wolf has a very sensitive sense of smell and hearing. This helps them to locate prey quickly. They also have a very thick coat that insulates them very well.

The Snowshoe Hare:

The snowshoe hare lives across most of the north american taiga and even farther south. It has many adaptations. First, like its name suggests, it has snowshoes as feet. These wide feet help the hare to move around in the deep snow just as snowshoes. Another adaptation is camouflage. In the summer months, the hare is brownish grey to camouflage with the plantation. In the winter months, its coat turns pure white to camouflage with the snow. They only eat plants. Snowshoe hares are getting eaten by predators particularly by the lynx, besides the fact that animals are eating them, they are also decreasing in population because of a disease.  Overall, the snowshoe hares are a great animal for the the taiga but in the future once the snowshoe hares become extinct the whole food chain will collapse.

The Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl lives in the southern parts of the North American taiga. It eat mainly small mammals such as the snowshoe hare. There are many adaptations that make this owl suitable to life in the taiga. For example, it has excellent hearing that enables it to locate prey beneath the snow. It has huge sharp talons to firmly grasp prey and a large sharp beak to kill.