Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, is a federally protected refugium encompassing one of the largest remnants of coastal prairie
Western Gulf coastal grasslands
The Western Gulf coastal grasslands are a subtropical grassland ecoregion of the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It is known in Texas as "Coastal Prairie" and as the Tamaulipan pastizal in Mexico.-Setting:...
habitat remaining in southeast Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and home to one of the last populations of the critically endangered Attwater's Prairie Chicken
Attwater's Prairie Chicken
Attwater's Prairie Chicken is a highly endangered subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken that is native to coastal Texas and Louisiana in the United States.-Description:...
, a ground-dwelling grouse
Grouse
Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...
of the coastal prairie ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
The 10,528 acres (43 km²) refuge, located in eastern Colorado County, approximately 60 miles (100 km) west of Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, was established in 1972, and is one of a handful of national wildlife refuge
National Wildlife Refuge
National Wildlife Refuge 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 world's premiere system of public lands and waters set aside to conserve America's fish, wildlife and plants...
s managed specifically for an endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
.
In the mid-1960s, the World Wildlife Fund purchased 3500 acres (14.2 km²) of land to preserve some remaining coastal prairie for the Attwater's Prairie Chicken. The land was transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
in 1972, which brought the refuge up to its current acreage.
Many of the Attwater's Prairie Chickens in the refuge are hatched at captive breeding programs at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center
Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is an endangered species research and conservation center near Glen Rose, Texas. The facility has over 1,000 animals from 50 species...
, Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Antonio
SeaWorld San Antonio is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, and animal theme park, located in the Westover Hills area of San Antonio, Texas. It is the largest of the three parks in the SeaWorld chain owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, a division of The Blackstone Group, and the world's...
, Abilene Zoo, Caldwell Zoo
Caldwell Zoo
The Caldwell Zoo is an zoo located in the city of Tyler, Texas. It features animals from all over the world.The Caldwell Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums ....
, Houston Zoo
Houston Zoo
The Houston Zoo is a zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. Housing over 6,000 animals belonging to over 900 species, the zoo receives 1.6 million visitors each year and is the seventh most visited zoo in the nation...
and San Antonio Zoo
San Antonio Zoo
-External links:...
. Chicks are fitted with a radio transmitter and released at the refuge once they are capable of independent survival.
To maintain the prairie ecosystem, the refuge staff does prescribed burns
Controlled burn
Controlled or prescribed burning, also known as hazard reduction burning or Swailing is a technique sometimes used in forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. Fire is a natural part of both forest and grassland ecology and controlled fire can be a tool for...
of 2000 acres (8.1 km²) to 3000 acres (12.1 km²) annually in January or February. The burns help invigorate the grasses by removing dead stems and control the growth of brush and invasive species of plants. The staff also converts formerly cultivated land in the refuge back to prairie by replanting native grasses.
Over 250 species of birds in addition to the Attwater's Prairie Chicken have been observed in the refuge. Some of these include the Fulvous Whistling Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
The Fulvous Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna bicolor, is a whistling duck which breeds across the world's tropical regions in much of Central and South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and the Gulf Coast of the United States....
, Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
The Black-bellied Whistling Duck , formerly also called Black-bellied Tree Duck, is a whistling duck that breeds from the southernmost United States and tropical Central to south-central South America. In the USA, it can be found year-round in parts of southeast Texas, and seasonally in southeast...
, White-tailed Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
The White-tailed Hawk is a large bird of prey species found in tropical or subtropical environments across the Americas.-Description:...
, Northern Caracara, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is a long-tailed insectivorous bird of the genus, whose members are collectively referred to as kingbirds. The kingbirds are a group of large insectivorous birds in the tyrant flycatcher family...
, Dickcissel
Dickcissel
The Dickcissel is a small American seed-eating bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is the only member of the genus Spiza, though some sources list another supposedly extinct species...
, Roseate Spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill
The Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae...
, Anhinga
Anhinga
The Anhinga , sometimes called Snakebird, Darter, American Darter, or Water Turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word "anhinga" comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.It is a cormorant-like bird with an average body length of , a...
, Sprague's Pipit
Sprague's Pipit
Sprague's Pipit is a small passerine bird that breeds in the short and mixed-grass prairies of North America and overwinters in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Easiest to identify by the distinctive descending call that is delivered in the breeding season from a considerable...
and Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane
The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...
. Mammals in the refuge include Plains Bison
Plains Bison
The Plains Bison or Common bison is one of two subspecies/ecotypes of the American Bison, the other being the Wood Bison . Furthermore, it has been suggested that the Plains Bison consists of a northern and a southern subspecies, bringing the total to three...
, Thirteen-lined ground squirrel
Thirteen-lined ground squirrel
The thirteen-lined ground squirrel , also known as the striped gopher, leopard ground squirrel, squinney, and as the leopard-spermophile in Audubon’s day, is a ground squirrel....
, and White-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
.
The refuge has a five mile (8 km) auto tour loop and two hiking trails. The Pipit Trail is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and the Sycamore Trail is 1.2 miles (1.9 km).