Did you know? 💡 The whooping crane was once on the brink of extinction, with just 15 birds remaining in the wild. Today, thanks to decades of dedicated conservation work, hundreds now migrate across North America each year.
Whooping cranes represent one of America's greatest conservation success stories, and a perfect bird to celebrate this #EndangeredSpeciesDay.
NFWF has supported efforts to restore critical habitats and connect partners across sectors, helping give these iconic birds a fighting chance.
On Endangered Species Day—and every day—we’re committed to conservation solutions that support both people and wildlife.
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📷: Whooping crane
#conservation #wildlife #whoopingcrane #crane
📢 A conservation win for one of the most rugged, wild and biologically rich landscapes in the Eastern United States. 📢
A new NFWF grant to the @openspaceinstitute and their partner @mainspringconserves to permanently protect 4,400 acres between the Snowbird and Unicoi mountains in Western North Carolina. This project will connect hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands and protect dozens of miles of pristine trout streams. 🙌 🙌
This grant was awarded through @Walmart ’s Acres for America program. Interested in learning more about conservation work like this? Learn more about the other vital conservation projects we’ve supported through Acres for America at the link in bio.
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📷: Scenes from Snowbird Mountain | Photo credit: Mac Stone
🌄 Through @Walmart ’s Acres for America program, we’re protecting one of the West’s most iconic landscapes.
Made famous as a site of inspiration for Georgia O’Keeffe, a renowned Triassic dinosaur fossil site and a setting for Hollywood Westerns, the Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico is also a place of exceptional ecological value.
NFWF, @Walmart and the @LifeTime.Foundation recently awarded a grant to the @nmlandconservancy help conserve Ghost Ranch and more than 19,000 acres along the Rio Chama. This project will protect critical landscapes, benefit wildlife and expand opportunities for outdoor recreation.
Read about this and other vital conservation projects supported by Acres for America grants at the link in bio.
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📷: Ghost Ranch in New Mexico | Photo credit: New Mexico Land Conservancy
“It’s great to feed the world. To be able to know that you’re contributing.”
For third-generation farmer Joseph Arcaneaux, feeding people and conserving wildlife go hand in hand. With support from @usdagov ’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and NFWF, he’s managing water on his rice fields in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, to support migratory birds and waterfowl.
🎥 Watch how this partnership is helping build a more resilient future for wildlife and communities across the Gulf states.
🔗 See the full length at the link in bio.
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🎥 by @grizzlycreekfilms
#conservation #wildlife #ducks #birds #louisiana
Through a recent grant from the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, @SandCountyFoundation is working to scale voluntary grassland conservation across the Great Plains and American West.
Partnering with ranchers, SCF will implement proven practices like virtual fencing, rotational grazing and brush management. This work will help to strengthen ranch operations, restore habitat for wildlife and improve ecosystem health.
Click the link in bio to learn more about this project and others recently funded through NFWF’s Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, a partnership among NFWF, @mcdonaldscorp , key McDonald’s USA beef and beverage suppliers, and @USDAgov ’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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📷: Cows grazing in Montana
#conservation #wildlife #montana #grazing
Have you ever seen a bobolink? Whether you live in North America or South America, you might have encountered one.
They hatch their young in the broad middle band of North America — where the @bezosearthfund is working with @nfwf to restore 1.6 million acres of grassland. And in the winter, they travel to Brazilian grasslands.
The bobolinks are sheltered by these habitats, but they also give back — acting as ecosystem stabilizers. It’s just another example of the roles wildlife and people play in helping our shared spaces survive and thrive.
#WMBD2025 #DMAM #worldmigratorybirdday #AmigoDeLasAves
Hope all the mama ducks out there have a great Mother’s Day weekend. Just keep swimming. 🦆🦆🦆
Did you know? 💡 Some ducks, like common mergansers, don’t just nest once. They may also sneak a few eggs into another duck’s nest.
Scientists aren’t entirely sure why, but this “egg dumping” may act as a kind of reproductive insurance policy. If one nest is lost to predators, some of the female’s eggs may still survive elsewhere.
A common merganser typically lays about a dozen eggs but may end up incubating more if multiple females have contributed eggs. After hatching, broods often mix together, and one female may end up leading a large group of ducklings, sometimes dozens at a time.
She’ll care for them for about a month or more until they’re ready to make it on their own. And if they’re female, they may one day raise (or inherit!) a big brood of their own.
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📹: Common merganser and ducklings
#mothersday #mother #merganser #duck #wildlife
Each spring, rainy “big nights” trigger mass migrations of frogs and salamanders from their winter habitats to nearby wetlands and vernal pools to breed—movements that increasingly intersect with roads and infrastructure.
With support from NFWF’s America’s Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, @nhfishandgame is constructing its first turtle and amphibian road crossing structures. The project will restore habitat connectivity at high priority sites and benefit at risk species such as the Jefferson salamander, pictured here.
Learn more at the link in bio.
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📷: Jefferson salamander that made it to its vernal pond
#salamander #amphibianweek #amphibian #jeffersonsalamander
When invasive species take hold, native amphibians like the California red-legged frog are often the first to feel the impact.
In Southern California’s San Francisquito Creek in the Angeles National Forest, invasive red swamp crayfish are contributing to steep challenges for native aquatic life—preying on frog eggs and tadpoles and disrupting stream conditions that sensitive species need to survive. When invasives take hold, the ripple effects can undermine biodiversity and water quality across an entire creek system.
That’s why an NFWF-funded project led by @Pepperdine is focused on improving aquatic habitat by trapping and removing crayfish—paired with biodiversity monitoring, behavioral experiments, and mathematical modeling to measure how crayfish removal can boost native species recovery and inform long-term management strategies.
Healthier streams support far more than a single species. By reducing invasive crayfish pressure, this effort can benefit the California red-legged frog and the endangered unarmored threespine stickleback—while helping restore the natural balance of stream food webs that underpin cleaner water and healthier ecosystems.
Learn more about NFWF’s investments in California at the link in bio.
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#redleggedfrog #amphibianweek #amphibian #frog #conservation
The eastern hellbender is the largest salamander in the U.S., and makes its home in cold, clean Appalachian streams. But this gentle giant is facing tough times in southwest Virginia after Hurricane Helene wiped out critical nesting sites.
Virginia Tech scientists, with support from NFWF and partners, are giving these elusive amphibians a fighting chance through innovative “head-starting” strategies and habitat restoration.
This #AmphibianWeek, learn how this effort could help restore stream health for hellbenders and other species at the link in bio.
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📷: Eastern hellbender
#hellbender #salamander #amphibian #conservation #wildlife
Sharing some good news for Chicagoans and Hoosiers 🌱💚🌱
NFWF and partners announced four projects selected to receive $1.2 million in grant funding to enhance habitat and improve water quality in Chicago-Calumet region.
Congrats to the grantees, @wetlandsinitiative , @mortonarb , @nature_indiana and @calumetcollab !
The Chi-Cal River Fund is a partnership among NFWF and @usfws , @usepa , @u.s.forestservice , @bnsfrailway , Cleveland-Cliffs, Crown Family Philanthropies, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Hunter Family Foundation, and the Walder Foundation.
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📷: 📷: Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed | Photo credit: C A Milledge III/Getty
#conservation #environment #chicago #wildlife #outdoors
Habitat is at the heart of species recovery. For at‑risk wildlife like the Carolina gopher frog, healthy populations depend on healthy habitat.
In South Carolina’s Francis Marion National Forest—critical habitat for this imperiled species—decades of fire suppression allowed dense shrubs and trees to overtake once‑open wetland ponds. As woody vegetation crowded in, the grasses gopher frogs rely on to attach their egg masses disappeared, and the ponds no longer held water long enough for tadpoles to survive.
That’s why the recent completion of a major wetland restoration project by NFWF grantee @arcprotects is so important. Paired with head-starting, reintroduction and long‑term monitoring, ARC removed dense woody vegetation from the pond basin, allowing more sunlight to reach the forest floor. With increased light, native grasses are returning, and the wetland is once again better able to hold water through the gopher frog’s tadpole stage.
These restored wetlands support far more than a single species. They provide habitat for a wide range of amphibians and other wildlife that often go unnoticed but are essential to healthy ecosystems. By supporting projects like this, we’re helping build a more resilient, long‑term future for gopher frogs and the many species that depend on these wetlands.
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📷: Carolina gopher frog | Photo credit: James Lyon/USFWS
#gopherfrog #amphibian #amphibianweek #conservation #wildlife
