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Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge
The only international wildlife refuge in the U.S.
© Adam Grimm, Duck Stamp 2014-15 artwork, USFWS
The United States is home to more than 550 National Wildlife Refuges – havens for wildlife, including the Canvasback. But only one refuge can claim the distinction of being international: the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. It hosts millions of migratory ducks annually in the heart of a major metropolitan area!
BirdNote®
Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote.
[Combined voices of Black Ducks and Canvasbacks]
The United States is home to more than 550 National Wildlife Refuges – havens for wildlife, like these Black Ducks and Canvasbacks. [Canvasbacks and Black Ducks] But only one refuge can claim the distinction of being international: the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.
Established in 2001, this refuge unites vital habitats across the borders of Michigan and Ontario, along nearly 50 miles of the Detroit River and Lake Erie. The refuge straddles the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyways. And its wetlands, marshes, and islands host millions of migratory ducks each year. [Combined voices of Canvasbacks and Black Ducks].
Canvasbacks [Canvasback calls], handsome ducks with chestnut heads and pale gray backs, gather here by the thousands to feed on wild celery. One of the largest concentrations of Black Ducks on the continent can be found here, too [Black Duck calls]. Bald Eagles, while still endangered in the region, are making a notable comeback [Bald Eagle calls]. And sandpipers fuel up along the water’s edge during migration [calls of Dunlin].
What the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge accomplishes for wildlife is truly exemplary. But the greatest feat? It does all this within the heart of a major metropolitan area. [Black Duck calls]
For BirdNote,org, I’m Mary McCann.
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Call of waterfowl and birds provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Canvasback ML57948 recorded by W.W.Gunn; Black Duck ML 42546 by G.F. Budney;
Black Duck ML53185 by S.Pantle; Bald Eagle by J. Storm; Dunlin recorded by W.W.H.Gunn.
BirdNote's theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and produced by John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org June 2022 / September 2024
ID# nwr-detroitriver-01-2009-06-23-MM
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Mary McCann
NarratorSights & Sounds
