Areas of Interest
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Wildlife
Observation More than 300 species of birds and mammals, both resident and migratory, use the Refuges. The marshes support fish, frogs, and invertebrates, which are used by grebes, white pelicans, egrets, herons, and bitterns as a food resource. Shorebirds probe the mud for insects, snails, and worms, while raptors prey on the abundant waterfowl, rodents, and small birds. Woodpeckers, marsh wrens, and finches are a few of the many songbirds which feed and nest in the Refuges' cottonwoods, willows, and wetland plants. Approximately 44% of the Pacific Flyway's waterfowl (pdf, 1.3 MB) population winters in the Sacramento Valley. Three million ducks and three-quarters of a million geese migrate here. The western pond turtle, common
king snake and western fence lizard can sometimes be seen sunning themselves
on logs and rocks by waterways and ponds. Learn
about Waterfowl (pdf, 1.3 MB): Dabbling
ducks (pdf, 2 MB), diving ducks (pdf, 1.7 MB), geese (pdf, 159 KB) and Tundra
swans (pdf, 242 KB). Seasonal Viewing Opportunities Fall (Sept.-Nov.) Pintails are the first duck to arrive and signal the beginning of winter migration. White-fronted geese and snow geese follow. Winter (Dec.-Feb.) Duck and geese numbers peak. Snow and Ross' geese, mallard, wigeon, teal, bufflehead, ruddy duck, northern shoveler and ring-necked ducks enjoy the flooded marsh. Spring (March-May) As ducks and geese leave for their breeding grounds, shorebirds arrive. Sandpipers, dowitchers, dunlin, avocets, black-necked stilts and others probe the mudflats for food. Summer (June-Aug.) Herons, egrets, grebes, and some ducks remain to nest. Orioles, swallows, and flycatchers arrive. Resident deer, blackbirds, jackrabbits, otter and muskrat can be observed. Weather |
Sacramento NWR Complex
752 County Rd. 99W, Willows, CA 95988
Phone: (530) 934-2801; Fax: (530) 934-7814
24-hour Information: (530) 934-7774
TTY: (530) 934-7135
Last updated:
March 3, 2009