Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge

46°58′26″N 123°55′50″W / 46.97389°N 123.93056°W / 46.97389; -123.93056Area1,471.38 acres (595.45 ha)^[1]Established1990 (1990)^[2]Governing bodyU.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceWebsiteGrays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge

Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge is located within Grays Harbor, at the mouth of the Chehalis River, which makes up the second largest watershed in Washington. It is one of four major staging areas for migrating shorebirds in the Pacific Flyway. Up to one million shorebirds gather here in spring and fall to feed and rest.^[3]

Grays Harbor is designated as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Site, recognizing this internationally significant shorebird habitat. Although the refuge occupies only two percent of the intertidal habitat of Grays Harbor, it hosts up to 50 percent of the shorebirds that stage in the estuary. As many as 24 species of shorebirds use Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge, with the most abundant species being western sandpiper and dunlin. Semipalmated plover, least sandpiper, red knot, and black-bellied plover are also common during migration. The refuge is also used by peregrine falcon, bald eagle, northern harrier, Caspian tern, great blue heron, songbirds, and a variety of waterfowl.^[3]

The accessible boardwalk offers a means to develop and implement interpretation and education programs for the more than half a million shorebirds who pass by each year on their way through the gateway to the Olympic Peninsula.^[3]

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

^ "Annual Report of Lands as of September 30, 2013" (PDF). United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
^ "About the Refuge". Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge Profile". U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge.

Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Protected areas of Washington

Federal

National Parks	Mount Rainier North Cascades Olympic
National Monuments	Hanford Reach (USFWS) Mount St. Helens Volcanic (USFS) San Juan Islands (BLM)
National Historical Parks and Sites	Fort Vancouver NHS Klondike Gold Rush NHP Lewis and Clark NHP Manhattan Project NHP Nez Perce NHP San Juan Island NHP Whitman Mission NHS
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National Wildlife Refuges	Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually Columbia Conboy Lake Copalis Dungeness Flattery Rocks Franz Lake Grays Harbor Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-Tailed Deer Little Pend Oreille McNary Pierce Protection Island Quillayute Needles Ridgefield Saddle Mountain San Juan Islands Steigerwald Lake Toppenish Turnbull Umatilla Willapa
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Former state parks	Damon Point Fay Bainbridge Fort Okanogan Fort Ward Park Griffin Bay Mukilteo Lighthouse Park Osoyoos Lake Veteran's Memorial Park Skull Island Upright Channel Wenberg Westhaven