Spring Migration Arrival: Painted Turtle

As the cold days of winter give way to the warmth of spring, Painted Turtles begin to emerge from their hibernation. Having spent the winter months buried in the mud or in muskrat burrows at the bottom of Carillon Stonegate Pond, these resilient creatures awaken to bask in the sun near the edges of ponds or on downed tree trunks. This seasonal revival marks the start of their active mating period, with males moving between aquatic habitats in search of mates, while females prepare to nest during the day in May and June. The cycle of renewal begins anew as Painted Turtles return to their vibrant lives in the watery habitat of Carillon Stonegate Pond that they call home.

Identification: The Painted Turtle, Illinois' official state reptile, is medium-sized with an olive green to black carapace. Its skin matches the shell color, while the plastron is yellow or red with a dark center. It has red and yellow stripes on its neck, tail, and legs, black eyes, and a snout-like nose. Unlike other turtles, it has webbed limbs and thin skin flaps over internal ear bones for hearing underwater. Painted Turtles average 5-7 inches in length and weigh around 1 pound.

Habitat at Carillon Stonegate Pond: Look near the shallow edges of Carillon Stonegate Pond or on downed tree trunks. Painted Turtles are seen basking in the sun (this is not hypothetical; sun does shine here in Chicago area – sometimes!) on logs or rocks or some other available site.

Key Skills: Swimming! Painted Turtles are strong swimmers. Aided by their webbed back legs, Painted Turtles swim fast in the water.

Behavior: Painted turtles can sleep underwater, buried in the sand or mud at the bottom of their habitat. They can breathe air and also absorb oxygen in water. The shell of a painted turtles, or “carapace”, is made up of 13 separate bone plates called “scutes”. When the turtle grows, it sheds the outermost layer of these scutes and grows new, larger plates underneath.

Diet: Painted Turtles are omnivorous. They eat fish, insects, plants, fruit, carrion, and almost anything else they find. They do not have teeth. Rather they have a hard beak that allows them to chew, although they prefer to swallow their food whole.

Residence: Painted Turtles are found across much of the continental U.S. and into Canada. They live in permanent freshwater habitats such as ponds, lakes, marshes, sloughs, and creeks. They spend time in the soft bottoms of these bodies of water as well as in the aquatic vegetation and in sunny basking spots on or near the water.

Breeding and Nesting: They mate in early spring (males are known to move between aquatic habitats, presumably looking for mates) with the females coming out of the water to nest during the day in May and June. They typically lay 2-8 eggs, sometimes a few more. The eggs hatch in late summer or early fall, but hatchlings usually remain in the nest until they emerge the following spring. Hatchlings are more carnivorous than adults and grow quickly, sometimes doubling in size in their first growing season. Hatchlings usually overwinter in nest.

Migration: They do not migrate, they hibernate. As described in a Shedd Aquarium blog, “So how do painted turtles survive Great Lakes winters, when the days commonly average in the 20s and 30s? They take the ultimate ‘polar plunge’. Painted turtles hunker down and hibernate underwater for the winter. They bury themselves in the mud, or in a muskrat burrow at the bottom of a shallow body of water (usually 1 to 7 feet deep). That’s right—air-breathing, “cold-blooded” animals bury themselves under near-freezing water for the winter. Hibernation can last from October to March, and luckily for painted turtles, millions of years of evolution have helped them to adapt for Great Lakes winters.”

Conservation Status: Green Herons are classified as a Low Concern. Green Herons are still common, although their population shows steady decline of 1.8% annually, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

Vocalizations: Turtles have no vocal cords, but they can sometimes make hissing sounds.

Interesting Facts:

• Painted turtles can swim underwater.

• A group of turtles is called a 'a bale of turtles'.

• Painted turtles don’t have teeth - they have horny plates, like rough sandpaper, on their jaws that helps them grip food.

• They can hold their breath a long time - most painted turtles hibernate on the bottom of ponds and lakes, holding their breath all winter.

• You can count the rings on a painted turtle to see its age, just like a tree. When the turtle grows, it sheds the outside layer of its “scutes” and grows new plates underneath. Count the rings on the “scutes” and you’ll know the age of the turtle.

• A turtle is a boy or a girl based on its temperature during embryogenesis. Painted turtles are not male or female by genetics. Instead, their gender is determined by outside temperature while they are in their eggs. Colder temperatures produce males, while warmer temps —usually above 84 degrees — produce females. That means most eggs in a nest hatch as the same gender.

• Painted turtles like the sun – they will come out of the water to spend time in the sun, called basking which helps rid them of parasitic leeches.

For more information on the Painted Turtle and sources of information used in this blog (these are the sources that I am using to learn as I blog), please visit Prairie Research Center, Warner Nature Center, Shedd Aquarium and the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.

​We all benefit from the variety of wetland, forest, and prairie environments that support diverse wildlife, plants, and insects of Carillon Stonegate Pond.

Take a hike and see what you can find – and identify!