Chicago Ecological Services Office
Midwest Region

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Chicago Illinois Field Office
1250 South Grove, Suite 103
Barrington, Illinois 60010
Phone: 847/381-2253
FAX: 847/381-2285

Federal Threatened & Endangered Species
in the Chicago Region

Image of Eastern Prairie Fringed OrchidNo matter where they occur, urbanization, associated land uses, invasive species, and other disturbances have caused habitat loss and contributed to population declines in many species of plants and animals.  Northeastern Illinois is no exception.  

Ten federally listed endangered, threatened, or candidate species occur, or have historically occurred in Northeastern Illinois. One unit of critical habitat for the piping plover occurs in our area.

The public has shown great interest in learning more about listed species in our area.  Below is a list that will link you to "Species Spotlights" for the federally listed, candidate, and species critical habitat in the Chicago Region.  These "spotlights" each tell a bit about activities to recover these species locally and link to other service web pages established for each.

Plants
Eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea), Threatened
Lakeside daisy (Hymenoxys acaulis var. glabra), Threatened
Leafy prairie clover (Dalea foliosa), Endangered
Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii), Threatened
Prairie bush clover (Lespideza leptostachya), Threatened
Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcherii), Threatened

Animals
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Recovered/De-Listed
Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) Endangered
Hine's emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana), Endangered 
Karner blue butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), Endangered
Eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus), Candidate
Piping plover (Charadrius melodus), Endangered/Designated Critical Habitat

Other listed Species in Region 3: For other information, such as recovery plans and fact sheets, for listed species occurring elsewhere in the Midwest (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Region 3) see the list entitled "Endangered, Threatened, Proposed, and Candidate Species in Region 3 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service"

The Chicago Illinois Field office would like your feedback and will consider all suggestions for improving our web pages, or for providing new pages with additional information.  Please direct comments regarding this page to the webmaster. 


Last updated: July 8, 2008