The Coldwater National Wildlife Refuge is located in northwest
Mississippi, south of the town of
Crowder
Crowder may refer to:
Places in the United States
*Crowder, Oklahoma
* Crowder, Mississippi
* Crowder, Missouri
*Crowder College
Crowder College is a public community college in Neosho, Missouri. It serves the Community College District of Newt ...
. Established in 2000, this small refuge consists of within an acquisition boundary of . The centerpiece of the refuge is 25 old
catfish ponds ranging in size from and totaling . These ponds are intensively managed for migrating
waterfowl,
shorebirds and
wading birds. A majority of the refuge has been reforested in native
bottomland hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
species. Almost the entire refuge is flooded annually during the winter/spring by the
Coldwater and
Tallahatchie Rivers. Up to 50,000 migratory
waterfowl winter on the refuge and 34 species of shorebirds have been recorded during spring and fall migration.
Peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
,
least tern,
black tern,
bald and
golden eagles, and
wood stork have been observed. Due to intensive management, the refuge is critically important as a sanctuary for waterfowl and other neotropical migratory birds. Primarily for these reasons, the refuge is closed to public access
References
Refuge website
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National Wildlife Refuges in Mississippi
Protected areas of Quitman County, Mississippi
Protected areas of Tallahatchie County, Mississippi
Protected areas established in 2000