How Important are Snags to Wildlife?

What's a snag? A snag is a standing dead or dying tree. Wildlife use snags and downed logs for nesting, roosting, foraging, perching and territorial displays. The following is a list of snag-dependent wildlife. If you can, please leave those snags for all of our bird, reptile and mammal friends.

Table 4.3 Snag-Dependent Wildlife

Cavity-excavating birds
Common flicker
Downy woodpecker
Hairy woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker
Red-bellied woodpecker
Red-headed woodpecker
Yellow-bellied sapsucker

Raptors
American kestrel
Bald eagle
Barn owl
Barred owl
Merlin
Osprey
Red-tailed hawk
Saw-shet owl
Eastern screech owl

Open-farm and meadow birds
Bewick's wren
Eastern bluebird
Tree swallow

Residential-area birds
Chimmney swift
House wren
Purple martin

Water Birds
Belted kingfisher
Black-crowned night heron
Bufflehead
Common goldeneye
Common merganser
Common or great egret
Double-crested cormorant
Great blue heron
Hooded merganser
Wood duck

Woodland birds
Black-capped chickadee
Brown creeper
Carolina wren
Great-crested flycatcher
Prothonotary warbler
Red-breasted nuthatch
Tufted titmouse
Turkey vulture
White-breasted nuthatch
Winter wren

Reptiles and amphibians
Most salamanders
Treefrogs

Mammals

Big brown bat
Bobcat
Deer mouse
Eastern chipmunk
Eastern pipistrelle bat
Fox squirrel
Gray fox
Gray squirrel
Hoary bat
Little brown bat
Mink
Opossum
Raccoon
Red squirrel
Red bat
Silver-haired bat
Southern flying squirrel
White-footed mouse