The Arlington, Texas, Ecological Services Field Office works to protect and recover our nation’s most imperiled species.

About Us

The Arlington, Texas, Ecological Services Field Office works to promote the Service’s mission to conserve and protect wildlife across north Texas. Originally established in 1950 in Fort Worth, the office is currently located in Arlington, with sub-offices in Lubbock and Nacogdoches. We provide assistance to federal and state agencies, local governments, businesses, and the general public to conserve, protect, and restore habitat for migratory birds and species listed threatened and endangered under the Endangered Species Act.  

What We Do

The vision of the Arlington, Texas, Ecological Services Field Office is to ensure healthy, abundant, and sustainable populations of fish, wildlife, and plants in North Texas, with an emphasis on recovery of species listed as threatened or endangered on the Endangered Species Act of 1973. We strive to conserve and protect species and their habitats for future generations through science-based decision-making and with the continued support and collaboration from our partners.  

Our Organization

A rocky shoreline of a river. The water is calm. Mist and green branches line the river.
The Ecological Services Program works to restore and protect healthy populations of fish, wildlife, and plants and the environments upon which they depend. Using the best available science, we work with federal, state, Tribal, local, and non-profit stakeholders, as well as private land owners, to...

Our Species

The Arlington, Texas, Ecological Services Field Office works to protect and recover our nation’s most imperiled species. Our efforts encompass a variety of species, including migratory birds, lesser prairie chicken, black-capped vireo, red-cockaded woodpecker, Arkansas River shiner, sharpnose shiner, smalleye shiner, Louisiana pigtoe, Texas heelsplitter, alligator snapping turtle, Texas kangaroo rat, and Geocarpum minimum (rare plant).  

A golden-cheeked warbler perches on top of an Ashe juniper tree

The golden-cheeked warbler (Dendroica chrysoparia, GCWA) is a small, neo-tropical songbird weighing about 10 grams (0.34 ounces) and is about 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) long (Pulich 1976, pp. 126-128). Adult GCWA males have yellow cheeks outlined in black with a thin black line through each eye...

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California least tern flying. A plain, dark blue sky in the background.

Least terns are the smallest member of the gull and tern family. They are approximately 9" in length. Unlike gulls, terns will dive into the water for small fish. The body of least terns is predominately gray and white, with black streaking on the head. Least terns have a forked tail and narrow...

Two red cockaded woodpeckers face each other on a tree limb with pine needles and blue sky visible in the background

22 cm. Rather small black-and-white woodpecker with longish bill. Above black barred white. Below white with black spots on flanks. Black crown, nape and moustachial stripe border white cheeks and side of neck. Male has small red mark on the side of nape. Juvenile browner with variable extent of...

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The smalleye shiner is a small, pallid minnow, measuring 3.5 to 4.4 cm (1.4 to 1.7 in)(Cross 1953, pp. 252–254) endemic to the Brazos River. Coloration is typically olive-green with scales outlined by dark pigment dorsally, white ventrally, and silver laterally with a mid-lateral stripe scattered...
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The sharpnose shiner is a small, slender minnow, measuring 3 to 5 cm (1.2 to 2.0 in) in standard length, with a strongly curved ventral contour, and an oblique mouth (Hubbs and Bonham 1951, pp. 94–95). Coloration is typically olive dorsally, silver-white ventrally, and silver laterally with a faint...
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Close look at a small yellow flower.

Plants annual stems erect, 3.5-18 cm (1.4-7.1 in.) high with several divergent branches arising from a rosette of basal fleshy leaves. Basal leaves 1-16 mm (0.04-0.59 in.) wide, up to 4 cm (1.6 in.) long, widest toward the tip, margins with short teeth or lobes from mid—blade to tip. Upper stem...

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Two large white birds with spindly legs and black tips on their wings coming in for a landing in a wetland

The whooping crane occurs only in North America and is North America’s tallest bird, with males approaching 1.5 m (5 ft) when standing erect. The whooping crane adult plumage is snowy white except for black primaries, black or grayish alula (specialized feathers attached to the upper leading end...

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White flower with five petals and a red center. The flower is low to the ground surrounded by grass and other vegetation.

The Neches River rose-mallow (Hibiscus dasycalyx) is a wetland associated and nonwoody perennial in the Malvaceae (mallow) family.  The species can grow to about 2-8 feet (ft) tall and produce hundreds of flowers per plant.  Potential pollinating species may include,...

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Grey, white and black bird on sand in the foreground

Size: 18 cm (7.25 in) in length. Color: Breeding season: Pale brown above, lighter below; black band across forehead; bill orange with black tip; legs orange; white rump. Male: Complete or incomplete black band encircles the body at the breast. Female: Paler head band; incomplete breast band....

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Geocarpon MacKenzie was a monotypic genus originally described by K.K. MacKenzie (1914). It was placed in the family Caryophyllaceae. However, recent phylogenetic work suggests that it should be placed in the genus Mononeuria and it is now known as Mononeuria minima. This new scientific...
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The Arkansas River shiner (ARS) is a small, streamlined minnow with a small, dorsally flattened head, rounded snout, and subterminal mouth. The ARS is silver in appearance with a dark blotch at the base of the dorsal (top) fin. Adults attain a maximum length of about 2 inches (Miller and Robison...
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A group of juvenile and adult red knot forage along the shoreline.

Length: 25-28 cm. Adults in spring: Above finely mottled with grays, black and light ochre, running into stripes on crown; throat, breast and sides of head cinnamon-brown; dark gray line through eye; abdomen and undertail coverts white; uppertail coverts white, barred with black. Adults in...

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Mr. Snake, a Louisiana pinesnake that helps the U.S. Forest Service with education and outreach, laying in pine straw July 11, 2022.

Louisiana pinesnakes are egg-laying, non-venomous constrictors with small heads and pointed snouts, and are good burrowers. Reaching up to about five feet long, Louisiana pinesnakes are black, brown and russet. They have a buff to yellowish background color marked with 28 to 38 dark blotches...

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eight small tan fish at the bottom of a tank

The peppered chub is a small minnow with a fusiform (tapering at both ends) body shape rapidly tapering to a conical head. Mouth position is inferior and horizontal, with two distinct pairs of barbels present. Taste buds are present over most of the body. Pigment is nearly confined to the dorsal...

FWS Focus
A monarch butterfly on a yellow flower

Adult monarch butterflies are large and conspicuous, with bright orange wings surrounded by a black border and covered with black veins. The black border has a double row of white spots, present on the upper side of the wings. Adult monarchs are sexually dimorphic, with males having narrower...

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The Texas heelsplitter is a rare freshwater mussel with a thin, smooth, elliptical shell and a straight hinge line. The beaks are slightly elevated above the hinge line. External shell color is tan to dark brown or black that fades to a lighter color on the beaks. Some specimens have low, poorly...
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The Louisiana pigtoe is a rare freshwater mussel with a thick, inflated, triangular to sub-quadrate shell. The beaks are elevated well above the hinge line but are sometimes eroded. The external shell is without sculpturing and reddish-brown, dark brown, or black in color. The interior shell...
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The western chicken turtle is a small to medium-sized freshwater turtle that is easily identified by its extraordinarily long, striped neck. The egg-shaped carapace (top half of the shell) is rough textured and tends to be olive to brown in color with a faint cream, yellow, or orange netlike...
FWS Focus
a small rodent with a long thin tail and large rear feet

The Texas kangaroo rat is a nocturnal rodent with long hind feet, long tail and external cheek pouches (Dalquest and Horner 1984, p. 118). Hind feet have four toes and its laterally white-striped, thick tail has a conspicuous white tuft of hair on the tip and is about 160 percent of the length...

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A male lesser prairie-chicken in the fading sunlight

The lesser prairie-chicken is a species of prairie grouse endemic to the southern and central high plains of the United States, commonly recognized for its feathered tarsi (legs), stout build, ground-dwelling habit, and lek mating behavior. The LEPC is closely related and generally similar in...

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Texas screwstem is a slender, erect annual plant that measures 6 to 14 inches tall. Leaves are reduced to scales and alternate, but can be positioned opposite of each other at the top of the stem. Flowers are four-lobed and arranged in clusters. The sepals are slender, awl-shaped lobes that are...
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Two curious animals with long necks and what looks like black masks around their eyes peek out from a burrow in the ground.

The black-footed ferret is 18 to 24 inches long, including a 5 to 6 inch tail. It weighs only one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half pounds, with males slightly larger than females. The black-footed ferret is well adapted to its prairie environment. Its color and markings blend so well with grassland...

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A single black-capped vireo sits on a tree branch

12 cm. Well-marked and distinctive vireo. Male has black head, white lores and eye-ring (giving spectacled appearance), olive upperparts, blackish wings fringed olive and two yellowish wing-bars. Whitish underparts with olive flanks. Red iris. Female duller and with grey head. Juvenile browner...

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Get Involved

The Arlington, Texas, Ecological Services Field Office frequently works with individual citizens, schools, local communities, public and private organizations, and state and other federal agencies. Please reach out to our office to find out more about these programs or to see how you can get involved! 

Location and Contact Information