Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge is a

National Wildlife Refuge The National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is a system of protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, Department of the Interi ...

(NWR) located in the north-central region of the U.S. state of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. The refuge is northeast of Malta, Montana in the Milk River Valley and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

History

Bowdoin NWR was previously managed as part of irrigation efforts by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to conserve water that would flow into Lake Bowdoin. The seasonal floods from spring snow melt created excellent habitat for migratory and nesting waterfowl as well as raptors such as the

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

and

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

. Lake Bowdoin is on both the Central and

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

s used by migratory birds and was well known by locals and naturalists as having the largest numbers of migratory birds in Montana. In an effort to better protect the habitat, Lake Bowdoin and the surrounding region were set aside as a refuge in 1936 and administration passed to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fauna

As of 2008, 263 species of birds have been observed at Bowdoin NWR. Nesting waterfowl include the

American white pelican The American white pelican (''Pelecanus erythrorhynchos'') is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Costa Rica, in winter. Taxonomy The Americ ...

, double-crested cormorant,

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

, white-faced ibis and black-crowned night heron. Waterfowl species such as the

northern pintail The pintail or northern pintail (''Anas acuta'') is a duck species with wide geographic Range (biology), distribution that breeds in the northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and North America. It is bird migration, migratory an ...

, green-winged teal, American wigeon and a number of grebe species including both the eared and western grebe also nest at the refuge. Several species of gulls such as

Franklin's gull Franklin's gull (''Leucophaeus pipixcan'') is a small (length 12.6–14.2 in, 32–36 cm) gull. The genus name ''Leucophaeus'' is from Ancient Greek ''leukos'', "white", and ''phaios'', "dusky". The specific ''pipixcan'' is a Nahuatl name fo ...

, ring-billed gull and the

California gull The California gull (''Larus californicus'') is a medium-sized gull, smaller on average than the herring gull, but larger on average than the ring-billed gull (though it may overlap in size with both). Although named after California, it can b ...

and

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

species including the red-winged blackbird,

western meadowlark The western meadowlark (''Sturnella neglecta'') is a medium-sized icterid bird, about in length. It is found across western and central North America and is a Bird migration, full migrant, breeding in Canada and the United States with resident ...

, yellow-headed blackbird,

American goldfinch The American goldfinch (''Spinus tristis'') is a small North American bird in the finch Family (biology), family. It is Bird migration, migratory, ranging from mid-Alberta to North Carolina during the breeding season, and from just south of th ...

eastern kingbird The eastern kingbird (''Tyrannus tyrannus'') is a large tyrant flycatcher native to the Americas. The bird is predominantly dark gray with white underbelly and pointed wings. Eastern kingbirds are conspicuous and are commonly found in open areas ...

and lark bunting have also been known to nest on the refuge. Mammal species including the

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gi ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

live on the refuge. After the refuge was first established, the pronghorn were then protected from hunting, allowing their numbers to swell from 7 to 160 individuals during the 1940s. Pronghorn population figures for the early 21st century averaged between 100 and 150 individuals.

References

External links

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Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge
{{authority control National Wildlife Refuges in Montana Protected areas of Phillips County, Montana Protected areas established in 1936 1936 establishments in Montana