U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Brian Nesvik is heading the interagency U.S. Delegation to the 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20) this week. The meeting takes place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan with CITES Parties, including 184 countries and the European Union, non-governmental organizations, scientists, industry representatives and other stakeholders. This year marks the 50th anniversary of implementing CITES. Since its inception, and with the Service’s leadership and investment in Federal, State and Tribal partnerships, the Convention has had a profound impact in benefitting Americans and ensuring international trade in listed plants and animals is legal, traceable, and biologically sustainable. Its legacy is evident in numerous success stories, including American alligator recovery. Once endangered, American alligators have rebounded thanks to CITES, which not only sustains their populations, but also supports local economies and wetland conservation. Photo 1: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Nesvik, head of the U.S. delegation, with some of the delegation’s senior leadership (left to right): Naimah Aziz, Russ Husen and Dr. Hila Levy. Credit: USFWS Photo 2: Group photo of the U.S. Delegation to CITES CoP20. Credit: USFWS Photo 3: American Alligator. Credit: Robert H. Burton /USFWS

Are you a cylindrical cranberry sauce from a can person or a homemade cranberry sauce person? Either way, you should definitely be a bumblebee person. Without our flying friends, cranberry bogs wouldn't produce the tangy fruit we love to disagree about. Bumblebees, like this Eastern bumblebee, perform a manoeuvre called buzz pollination, during which they hang below the flower and vibrate to knock the pollen down onto their hairy bodies where it sticks and they can push it into the pollen sacs on their legs. #ThankAPollinator Photo: Courtney Celley/USFWS

Not all bats live in caves. Some roost in bridges. While driving under a bridge, you might be passing right beneath a hidden colony of bats. Many species, like the Brazilian free-tailed and big brown bats, use human-made structures—like bridges—for roosting. Recently, a couple of our biologists, along with a DOT biologist, discovered a bat roost tucked into a bridge in Alabama. This finding highlights why it's important to consider biodiversity in infrastructure planning. Bats play a vital role in ecosystems, from pest control to pollination. Understanding where they live helps us protect them—and the benefits they bring. 📷: USFWS

Did you know hummingbirds are essential pollinators for countless native plants? A single hummingbird may visit hundreds, even thousands, of flowers in a day, transferring pollen with every sip of nectar. The plants hummingbirds pollinate often play important roles in preventing soil erosion, enriching soil health and maintaining ecosystems. Photo of an Anna's hummingbird by Peter Pearsall/USFWS #ThankAPollinator

Incredible aurora borealis last week, as seen from Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Idaho! USFWS photo: Raven Patrick

Not all bats live in caves. Some roost in bridges. While driving under a bridge, you might be passing a hidden colony of bats. Many species, like the Brazilian free-tailed and big brown bats, use human-made structures—like bridges—for roosting. Recently, a couple of our biologists, along with a DOT biologist, discovered a bat roost tucked into a bridge in Alabama. These findings highlight why it’s important to consider biodiversity in infrastructure planning. Bats play a vital role in ecosystems, from pest control to pollination. Understanding where they live helps us protect them and the benefits they bring. 🎥 : Emily Duke/Alabama DOT

The queen returns! At an approximate age of 75, Wisdom the albatross returned this week to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge for nesting season. Like other Laysan albatross, or mōlī in Hawaiian, Wisdom returns to the same nesting site each year to reunite with her mate, and if able, lay one egg. Last year, the world’s oldest known wild bird successfully laid an egg for the first time in four years. Wisdom’s arrival to the refuge in the central Pacific Ocean is slightly earlier than prior years. Her new mate from last year has not been seen yet, according to staff. Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg, and the large seabirds aren’t known to breed before age 5. It is estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged in her lifetime. Each year, millions of seabirds return to Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge on the northwestern edge of the Hawaiian Archipelago to nest and raise their young. Wisdom, specifically, has been doing this since the Eisenhower administration. USFWS photos: Jon Plissner

This is not AI or manipulated in photoshop. Scorpions fluoresce in blacklight. The glow comes from compounds in their exoskeletons, which continue even after the exoskeleton has been shed (or been digested by a bat, hoary bat guano glows too!). Biologists use blacklights at night to survey for scorpions and help measure population changes. Photo: Claire Hassler at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

JOB OPENING: Join our team as a SEASONAL PARK RANGER at Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in San Jose, California. The park ranger is responsible for onsite interpretive service, including the development of daily work schedules, interpretive materials, on and off-site environmental education programs for a variety of audiences, and more. Deadline to apply: November 21, 2025 Link: https://ow.ly/61Pe50XtbHY Photo by Ivette Lopez/USFWS

The snakehead! A name nightmares are made of! With large mouths full of pointed teeth and eyes that sit near the top of flat, scaly heads, it’s easy to guess how snakeheads got their name. This fish also has a scary and unusual trait... it can travel across land! It wriggles and uses its fins to “walk” to the next waterway (Although this mainly happens during flooding or large storms.) As if that is not enough, the invasive snakehead can survive out of water for several days by gulping air. Snakeheads prey on native freshwater fish and shellfish, with a limitless appetite for both. Female snakehead will release tens of thousands of eggs at a time and may spawn up to five times a year. Posing a real danger to the balance of sensitive aquatic habitats. How you can help! If you think you have caught a northern snakehead, do not let it loose. Kill it. They're good eatin'. Find out if your state fish and game agency wants you to report your snakehead sighting. They'll tell you what to do next. And remember, it's important to know your snakeheads. Familiarize yourself with what a snakehead looks like. They do look similar to some native species like bowfin. Bowfin good. Snakehead bad. Photo: A northern snakehead close up with mouth open, highlighting its teeth. By Ryan Hagerty/USFWS