Kirwin's Diverse Wildlife

Kirwin NWR is home to a rich variety of wildlife species including 34 species of mammals, 31 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 197 species of birds. Beavers find food and cover in aquatic habitat, while raccoons and skunks search for a meal along the reservoir shore, and coyotes hunt the uplands.

When the reservoir is low, white-tailed deer find shelter in the windbreaks and in the brush in the dry bottom of the reservoir. Resident species of birds include upland game birds such as pheasant, bobwhite quail, greater prairie chicken, and Rio Grande turkey. Fields of native grass hide mice and rabbits, the prey of many species of hawks and owls.

Visitors to the Refuge are often awed by the impressive numbers of waterfowl, water birds, and shorebirds that pass through the Refuge during their spring and fall migration.

Spring migration is marked by the arrival of northern pintails, northern shovelers, gadwalls, and both green-winged and blue-winged teal. Shorebirds, such as Sandpipers, American Avocets, and Marbled Godwits also can be seen in large numbers flying and feeding in synchronized motion.

Heralding the beginning of fall migration, water birds, such as American white pelicans, double-crested cormorants, and many species of gulls begin arriving in late September. Later arrivals include Canada geese, white-fronted geese, mallards, gadwalls, northern pintails, and other dabbling and diving ducks. Some ducks and geese find the Refuge conditions to be so attractive, even in winter, that they fly no farther south. In fact, approximately 20,000 Canada geese and 10,000 mallards winter at the Refuge.

In the late fall and early winter, both golden and bald eagles soar over the landscape. Small numbers of peregrine falcons are also present through this period. Northern harriers, red-tailed hawks, and American kestrels are common to the area as well.