Wildlife of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta's Piedmont hardwood forests and the Chattahoochee River corridor make it one of the greenest big cities in the US, with breeding scarlet tanagers, wood thrushes and Kentucky warblers a short drive from downtown. River otters, beavers and barred owls all persist inside the metro, and the fall hawk migration along the Blue Ridge is an easy day trip.
Best timeApril – May for breeding songbirds, September – October for the raptor migration.
- 1Atlanta's tree canopy is one of the densest of any US city — pileated woodpeckers breed downtown.
- 2The Chattahoochee River still hosts native brook trout north of the city.
- 3Coyotes have colonised every county in Georgia in the last 30 years.
Signature species
Curated for Atlanta, Georgia, each tagged with its IUCN Red List status.
- LC
Wood thrush
Hylocichla mustelina
- LC
Barred owl
Strix varia
- VU
Eastern box turtle
Terrapene carolina
- NT
Cerulean warbler
Setophaga cerulea
- LC
Timber rattlesnake
Crotalus horridus
IUCN codes — EX extinct · EW extinct in wild · CR critically endangered · EN endangered · VU vulnerable · NT near threatened · LC least concern · DD data deficient
Dos & don'ts
Local etiquette that keeps wildlife wild.
Do
- Turn off building lights during spring/fall migration — Atlanta is a major flyway.
- Report box turtles you find in place, don't relocate.
- Keep distance — use zoom or binoculars, never bait animals closer.
- Stay on marked trails to avoid trampling nests, burrows and plants.
Don't
- Don't kill snakes — the copperhead is the only common venomous species here.
- Don't move firewood — it spreads emerald ash borer.
- Never feed wildlife — human food changes behaviour and shortens lives.
- Don't share exact locations of nests, dens or rare species online.
Spotted here lately
Live from iNaturalist — research-grade observations within 40km, last 30 days.
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