Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge is located in the hamlet of Islip,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, on the south shore of

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the

Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a National Wildlife Refuge complex in the state of New York. All of the component refuges are located on Long Island. The Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of seven national wildl ...

. The refuge consists of bordering the

Great South Bay The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches and is 20 feet at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire ...

, separated from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

only by

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Lon ...

. Situated in a heavily developed urban area along Champlin Creek, the refuge is an oasis for many species of migratory birds and waterfowl. Approximately one half of the refuge consists of

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...

, which serves a vast number of

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which ...

in the winter months. The refuge attracts

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from sea ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

, and migratory songbirds and raptors. The refuge has been classified as part of the larger Great South Bay, a significant coastal habitat. Management activities include forest and

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

protection and management, wetland restoration, wildlife nesting structure maintenance, and habitat restoration.

References

External links

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge
* {{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in New York (state) Islip (town), New York Protected areas of Suffolk County, New York Wetlands of New York (state) Landforms of Suffolk County, New York