Imperial National Wildlife Refuge

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Wildlife

Even though it is located in the Colorado Desert(an extension of the Sonoran Desert), Imperial NWR is home to a mostly wetland environment. Wetland wildlife is most abundant in winter, when birds such as cinnamon teal and northern pintail use the refuge. During the summer months, permanent residents such as great egrets are abundant. The Colorado River plays a vital role in the lives of desert fauna. It is the only water source in the area. Small animals such as black-tailed jackrabbits and western whiptail lizards are plentiful. Desert bighorn sheep and mule deer also call the refuge home.

Birds powerful flashlights

(For full list and abundance, see Bird Checklists of the U.S. - Imperial NWR led keychain flashlight

Shortened List of Birds led dynamo flashlight

Common Loon

Western Grebe

Blue-footed Booby

Brown Booby

American White Pelican

Brown Pelican

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Wood Stork

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Mallard

Northern Pintail

Cinnamon Teal

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Red-tailed Hawk

American Kestrel

Peregrine Falcon

Gambel's Quail

Sandhill Crane

Killdeer

California Gull

Common Tern

Mourning Dove

Common Ground-Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Greater Roadrunner

Barn Owl

Great Horned Owl

Burrowing Owl

White-throated Swift

Hummingbird

Belted Kingfisher

Gila Woodpecker

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Western Scrub-Jay

Common Raven

Brown Creeper

Cactus Wren

Marsh Wren

Northern Mockingbird

House Finch

Forest in the Desert

Mesquite Point in Imperial NWR

At one time, the banks of the Colorado River were lined with cottonwood and willow forests, sustained by the river natural periodic flooding. Animals depended on this green forest oasis for breeding, resting, feeding, and shade. Woodcutting during the steamboat era, clearing for agriculture, wild fire, exotic plants like salt cedar, and use of dams for flood prevention have devastated cottonwood and willow stands along the lower Colorado River. Some animals that depend on these forests, such as the southwestern willow flycatcher, have become endangered.

Trails

The Painted Desert Trail is a 1.3-mile self-guided trail for an opportunity to see desert plants and wildlife. The trail takes you through a rainbow of colors left by 30,000 year-old volcanic activity and features a panoramic view of the Colorado River valley.

See also

Colorado River

Colorado Desert

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge

References

^ a b c "Imperial NWR". http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/arizona/imperial.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 

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Ecological Reserves

Albany Mudflats  Alkali Sink  Allensworth  Atascadero Creek Marsh  Bair Island  Baldwin Lake  Batiquitos Lagoon  Blue Sky  Boden Canyon  Boggs Lake  Bolsa Chica  Bonny Doon  Buena Vista Lagoon  Butler Slough  Butte Creek Canyon  Butte Creek House  Buttonwillow  By Day Creek  Calhoun Cut  Canebrake  Carlsbad Highlands  Carmel Bay  Carrizo Canyon  Carrizo Plains  China Point  Clover Creek  Coachella Valley  Coal Canyon  Corte Madera Marsh  Crestridge  Dairy Mart Ponds  Dales Lake  Del Mar Landing  Elkhorn Slough  Estelle Mountain  Fall River Mills  Fish Slough  Fremont Valley  Goleta Slough  Indian Joe Spring  Kaweah  Kerman  King Clone  Laguna Laurel  Loch Lomond Vernal Pool  Lokern  Magnesia Spring  Marin Islands  Mattole River  McGinty Mountain  Morro Dunes  Morro Rock  Napa River  North Table Mountain  Oasis Spring  Panoche Hills  Peytonia Slough  Piute Creek  Pleasant Valley  Point Lobos  Rancho Jamul  Redwood Shores  River Springs Lakes  Saline Valley  San Dieguito Lagoon  San Elijo Lagoon  San Felipe Creek  San Joaquin River  Santa Rosa Plateau  Springville  Stone Corral  Sycamore Canyon  Sycuan Peak  Thomes Creek  Tomales Bay  Upper Newport Bay  Watsonville Slough  West Mojave Desert  Woodbridge  Yaudanchi

Marine Protected Areas

Abalone Cove  Agua Hedionda Lagoon  Albany Mudflats  Anacapa  Anacapa  Ao Nuevo  Asilomar  Atascadero Beach  Bair Island  Batiquitos Lagoon  Big Creek  Big Creek  Big Sycamore Canyon  Bodega  Bolsa Chica  Buena Vista Lagoon  Cambria  Cardiff and San Elijo  Carmel Bay  Carmel Pinnacles  Carrington Point  Catalina Marine Science Center  Corte Madera Marsh  Crystal Cove  Dana Point  Del Mar Landing 

Doheny  Doheny  Duxbury Reef  Edward F. Ricketts  Elkhorn Slough  Elkhorn Slough  Encinitas  Estero de Limantour  Fagan Marsh  Farallon Islands  Farnsworth Bank  Fort Ross  Gerstle Cove  Goleta Slough  Greyhound Rock  Gull Island  Harris Point  Heisler Park  Hopkins  Irvine Coast  James V. Fitzgerald  Judith Rock  Julia Pfeiffer Burns  La Jolla  Laguna Beach  Lovers Cove (Catalina Island)  Lovers Point  MacKerricher  Manchester and Arena Rock  Marin Islands  Mia J. Tegner  Moro Cojo Slough  Morro Bay  Morro Bay  Morro Beach  Natural Bridges  Niguel  Pacific Grove Marine Gardens  Painted Cave  Peytonia Slough  Piedras Blancas  Piedras Blancas  Pismo  Pismo-Oceano Beach  Point Buchon  Point Buchon  Point Cabrillo  Point Fermin  Point Lobos  Point Reyes Headlands  Point Sur  Point Sur  Portuguese Ledge 

Punta Gorda  Redwood Shores  Refugio  Richardson Rock  Robert E. Badham  Robert W. Crown  Russian Gulch  Salt Point  San Diego-Scripps  San Dieguito Lagoon  San Elijo Lagoon  Santa Barbara Island  Scorpion  Skunk Point  Sonoma Coast  Soquel Canyon  South Laguna Beach  South Point  Tomales Bay  Upper Newport Bay  Van Damme  Vandenberg  White Rock (Cambria)

 

National Landscape Conservation System

National Monuments

California Coastal  Carrizo Plain  Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains

National Conservation Areas

California Desert  King Range

Wilderness Areas

Argus Range  Big Maria Mountains  Bigelow Cholla Garden  Bighorn Mountain  Black Mountain  Bright Star  Bristol Mountains  Cadiz Dunes  Carrizo Gorge  Chemehuevi Mountains  Chimney Peak  Chuckwalla Mountains  Chumash  Cleghorn Lakes  Clipper Mountain  Coso Range  Coyote Mountains  Darwin Falls  Dead Mountains  Dick Smith  El Paso Mountains  Fish Creek Mountains  Funeral Mountains  Golden Valley  Grass Valley  Headwaters Forest Reserve  Hollow Hills  Ibex  Indian Pass  Inyo Mountains  Jacumba  Kelso Dunes  Kiavah  Kingston Range  Little Chuckwalla Mountains  Little Picacho  Machesna Mountain  Matilija  Malpais Mesa  Manly Peak  Mecca Hills  Mesquite  Newberry Mountains  Nopah Range  North Algodones Dunes  North Mesquite Mountains  Old Woman Mountains  Orocopia Mountains  Otay Mountain  Owens Peak  Pahrump Valley  Palen/McCoy  Palo Verde Mountains  Picacho Peak  Piper Mountain  Piute Mountains  Red Buttes  Resting Spring Range  Rice Valley  Riverside Mountains  Rodman Mountains  Sacatar Trail  Saddle Peak Hills  San Gorgonio  Santa Lucia  Santa Rosa  Sawtooth Mountains  Sespe  Sheephole Valley  South Nopah Range  Stateline  Stepladder Mountains  Surprise Canyon  Sylvania Mountains  Trilobite  Turtle Mountains  Whipple Mountains 

 

National Marine Sanctuaries

Channel Islands  Cordell Bank  Gulf of the Farallones  Monterey Bay

 

National Estuarine Research Reserves

Elkhorn Slough  San Francisco Bay  Tijuana River

 

University of California Natural Reserve System

Ao Nuevo Island  Bodega Marine  Box Springs  Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center  Burns Pion Ridge  Carpinteria Salt Marsh  Chickering American River  Coal Oil Point  Dawson Los Monos Canyon  Eagle Lake Field Station  Elliott Chaparral  Emerson Oaks  Fort Ord  Hastings  James San Jacinto Mountains  Jenny Pygmy Forest  Jepson Prairie  Kendall-Frost Mission Bay Marsh  Kenneth S. Norris Rancho Marino  Landels-Hill Big Creek  McLaughlin  Motte Rimrock  Quail Ridge  Sagehen Creek Field Station  San Joaquin Freshwater Marsh  Santa Cruz Island  Scripps Coastal  Sedgwick  Stebbins Cold Canyon  Stunt Ranch Santa Monica Mountains  Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center  Valentine Eastern Sierra  Younger Lagoon

Heritage registers: World Heritage Sites  World Network of Biosphere Reserves  National Register of Historic Places  National Historic Landmarks  National Natural Landmarks  California Historical Landmarks  California Points of Historical Interest  California Register of Historical Resources

Categories: National Wildlife Refuges in Arizona | National Wildlife Refuges in California | Lower Colorado River Valley | Geography of La Paz County, Arizona | Geography of Yuma County, Arizona | Imperial County, CaliforniaHidden categories: Protected Areas of California articles without parameters