10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2015

The Refuge is now home to nearly 200 species of birds, over 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a wide variety of insects, fish and plants. The mosaic of wetlands, open water, bottomland forests and prairies provides habitat for numerous mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and nearly three hundred bird species.

Fish 146

Fish Wildlife Hunting Game 146

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 20, 2014

’s bird family tree in a new tab and follow along as you read. The extinction event that wiped out the pterosaurs, the non-avian dinosaurs, and so much other life created enormous opportunity for new organisms to diversify and thrive (lucky for us placental mammals!), In 2008, Nick Sly published a review of Hackett et al.

Family 279

Family Birds Parrots 2014 279

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2016

Primates are exceptional among the mammals, living amphibians (which represent only a small part of the original amphibian family tree) are pretty noisy too. 66 million years ago, and one of those groups gave rise to the ducks and geese. One of the key features of birds, and I use the term “key” literally, is vocalization.

Groups 171

Groups Collecting Primates Bats 171

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 5, 2017

Most of the species are described in the Species Accounts, arranged taxonomically into 86 family chapters. Each family chapter begins with a brief, bold-printed description of the common traits of the species in the family and an enumeration of the number of species worldwide and the number of species in North America.

North America 188

North America America 2017 Birds 188