The open fields, meadows, wetlands, stream valleys, scrub-shrub, and forests environments of the National Park Service Civil War Defenses of Washington provide diverse habitats for a variety of animals. From microscopic copepods found in seeps and wetlands, to meadow butterflies, to woodland salamanders and snakes, to woodland interior-nesting songbirds, to nesting birds of prey, to fox and deer, the National Park Service Civil War Defenses of Washington sites are a sanctuary and home to many animal species native to the Washington metropolitan area.

Click the links above to see checklists of some species that have been documented in the National Park Service Civil War Defenses of Washington sites over the past twenty-five years.