The Pinellas National Wildlife Refuge is part of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Wildlife Refuge National Wildlife Refuge System is a designation for certain protected areas of the United States managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge System is the system of public lands and waters set aside to ...

(NWR) System, located offshore from mainland St. Petersburg, Florida, and only accessible by boat. The refuge was established in 1951, to act as a breeding ground for colonial bird species. Islands within the refuge include Indian, Tarpon, Mule, and Jackass Keys, and all are within the

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

city limits.

Management

The ''Pinellas NWR'' is one of the three 'Tampa Bay Refuges', along with

Passage Key NWR The Passage Key National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located offshore from St. Petersburg. The refuge was established in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt to preserve nesting colonies of ...

and Egmont Key NWR. Previously administered as a part of the

Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge The Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge System, located on the west coast of Florida, about north of St. Petersburg. It is famous as the southern wintering site for the re-introduced eas ...

Complex, the three Tampa Bay refuges, the ''Chassahowitzka NWR'', and the Crystal River NWR have been administered by the ''Crystal River Complex'', headquartered in

Crystal River, Florida Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,108 in the 2010 census. According to the U.S. Census estimates of 2018, the city had a population of 3,162. The city was incorporated in 1903 and is the self p ...

since 2012.Crystal River Complex
Retrieved 2017-12-27

Fauna

Brown pelican The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same buil ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s and many other species nest on the islands. Tarpon Key has the largest brown pelican rookery in the state.

Access

The NWR is closed to public use for the protection of natural and cultural resources.

References

External links

National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuges in Florida Geography of St. Petersburg, Florida Protected areas established in 1951 Protected areas of Pinellas County, Florida Tourist attractions in St. Petersburg, Florida 1951 establishments in Florida {{PinellasCountyFL-geo-stub