The Anaho Island National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge on

Anaho Island Anaho Island is a rocky island in Pyramid Lake, and located on the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation, Washoe County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. Geography Anaho Island is a little more than long from north to south, and also from east to west a ...

in Pyramid Lake,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. The refuge was established by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

in 1913 as a sanctuary for colonial nesting birds. It is home to one of the two largest colonies of pelicans— American white pelicans—in the western U.S. Other birds found on the island include

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 greatly with both. Description Adults are similar in ap ...

Caspian tern The Caspian tern (''Hydroprogne caspia'') is a species of tern, with a subcosmopolitan but scattered distribution. Despite its extensive range, it is monotypic of its genus, and has no accepted subspecies. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ' ...

double-crested cormorant The double-crested cormorant (''Nannopterum auritum'') is a member of the cormorant family of water birds. It is found near rivers and lakes, and in coastal areas, and is widely distributed across North America, from the Aleutian Islands in Al ...

s, great blue herons, black-crowned night herons, and snowy egrets. No boats are allowed within 1000 feet of the refuge. Refuge staff and volunteers visit the island to keep track of birds and band juvenile pelicans. An estimated 8-10,000 pelicans used to return to Anaho Island each spring from their winter homes in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. In recent years the number of pelican nests have dropped dramatically, due to water diversions affecting the fish runs of the endangered

cui-ui The cui-ui (''Chasmistes cujus'') is a large sucker fish endemic to Pyramid Lake and, prior to its desiccation in the 20th century, Winnemucca Lake in northwestern Nevada. It feeds primarily on zooplankton and possibly on nanoplankton (such as ...

, a staple food of the pelican.

References

External links

Refuge website
National Wildlife Refuges in Nevada Protected areas of Washoe County, Nevada {{WashoeCountyNV-geo-stub