• Massachusetts recognizes May 16 as Endangered Species Day, highlighting 453 endangered plants and animals.
• Eleven mammals are endangered, including six whale species and five bat species.
• Endangered species also include nine bird species, eight reptiles (including five sea turtles), and four fish.

Massachusetts officials are urging people to recognize endangered animals in the state on May 16, Endangered Species Day.

There are 453 plants and animals listed under the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act. Several either live on Cape Cod or use the peninsula as an important migration stop, including the North Atlantic right whale, the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and the upland sandpiper. The North Atlantic right whale and another endangered bird, the roseate tern, are featured on specialty Cape & Islands license plates, and a short tree named the split-leaved hawthorn can be found only on Martha’s Vineyard.

Some of these endangered animals, like the peregrine falcon and the bald eagle, have seen their numbers increase after restoration and conservation efforts. But Mass Wildlife says that there is “still much work to be done.”

On Endangered Species Day and every day, Mass Wildlife encourages residents to report rare species when they see them at the Heritage Hub, to donate, and to learn more about the species.

What are the endangered animals in Massachusetts?

There are 453 plants and animals considered endangered, threatened or “special concern” in Massachusetts. They include animals of all types, from mammals to crustaceans to dragonflies. 

There are 224 species listed as endangered in Massachusetts. Eleven of them are mammals.

Here are the eleven endangered mammals in Massachusetts, six of which are whales:

• Sei whale
• Blue whale
• Fin whale
• North Atlantic right whale
• Humpback whale
• Eastern small-footed bat
• Little brown bat
• Northern long-eared bat
• Indiana bat
• Tricolored bat
• Sperm whale

What are the endangered birds in Massachusetts?

There are nine endangered birds in Massachusetts:

• Short-eared owl
• Upland sandpiper
• American bittern
• Sedge wren
• Least bittern
• Leach’s storm-petral
• Pied-billed grebe
• Roseate tern
• Golden-winged warbler

Piping plovers, with nesting habits that result in Cape Cod beach restrictions each year, are threatened, but not endangered, according to Mass Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Piping plovers: ‘A species recovering.’ How Cape Cod leads the way for one shorebird’s recovery

What are the endangered reptiles in Massachusetts?

There are eight endangered reptiles in Massachusetts, including five sea turtles:

• Copperhead snake
• Timber rattlesnake
• Leatherback sea turtle
• Atlantic hawksbill sea turtle
• Bog turtle
• Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
• Eastern ratsnake
• Northern red-bellied cooter

What are the endangered fish in Massachusetts?

There are four endangered fish in Massachusetts:

• Shortnose sturgeon
• Atlantic sturgeon
• Northern redbelly dace
• Lake chub

What are the endangered plants in Massachusetts?

There are 159 endangered plants listed in Massachusetts.

They include the purple cress, named for its pale purple flowers, and the split-leaved hawthorn, a tall shrub or a short tree found only on Martha’s Vineyard.