Crescent Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Site Description:

This 46,000-acre refuge in west-central Nebraska consists of native Sandhills prairie dotted with numerous shallow lakes, ponds, and wetlands.

Ornithological Summary:

One of the top birding spots in the entire state, the species count stands at 279 species. Hundreds of thousands of waterfowl, shorebirds, and other waterbirds utilize the many wetland areas. Breeding species include eared grebe, American bittern, willet, Forster’s and black terns, while thousands of Wilson’s phalaropes, Baird’s sandpipers, and other wetland birds can be found during migration. The rare Clark’s grebe and black rail have been reported, too. The Sandhills prairies support breeding grassland birds that need extensive, unbroken areas of native habitat, such as the long-billed curlew, upland sandpiper, loggerhead shrike, dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, and northern harrier.

Links:

http://crescentlake.fws.gov/crescentlake/index.html

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/chekbird/r6/crescent.htm

http://www.recreation.gov/detail.cfm?ID=1361

http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=64510

http://www.gardencone.com/area/crescentlake.htm

http://www.defenders.org/habitat/refuges/map/ne.html

http://www.recreationmaps.gov/viewer/index.html?zoomid=1361'">Location Map

For more information, call or write Kevin Poague, Important Bird Areas Coordinator, Audubon Nebraska, P.O Box 117, 11700 SW 100th Street, Denton, NE 68339 402-797-2301, Fax: 402-797-2304; , Email