Wildlife of Seattle, Washington
Seattle is one of the few large cities where you can see a harbour seal, a bald eagle and an anna's hummingbird within a single afternoon. The Salish Sea supports orcas, harbour porpoises and a huge winter influx of loons and grebes, while the Cascade foothills bring black-tailed deer, coyotes and barred owls right to the city's edge.
Best timeMay – July for breeding songbirds, November – February for wintering waterbirds and orca sightings.
- 1Seattle has resident bald eagles nesting inside city parks year-round.
- 2The Salish Sea is home to two genetically distinct orca populations — resident and transient.
- 3Discovery Park's meadows host the only urban golden eagle sightings in the US.
Signature species
Curated for Seattle, Washington, each tagged with its IUCN Red List status.
- EN
Southern resident orca
Orcinus orca
~75 individuals remain.
- VU
Chinook salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
- EN
Marbled murrelet
Brachyramphus marmoratus
- LC
Harbour seal
Phoca vitulina
- LC
Anna's hummingbird
Calypte anna
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
- Stay 200 yards from orcas — Washington law and their survival depend on it.
- Report banded shorebirds to the USGS Bird Banding Lab.
- 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 fly drones over marine-mammal haul-outs.
- Don't collect intertidal creatures — most beaches are protected.
- 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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