Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge
Encyclopedia
The Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge holds one of the last stands of natural cottonwood-willow
forests along the lower Colorado River
, creating a unique ecosystem that provides good habitat for resident and migratory wildlife. There are few places where one can stand, look at a Saguaro cactus, a cattail stand, and a cottonwood tree together. This unique blend of upland desert
, marsh
, and desert riparian
habitat provides for a diverse array of birds, mammals, and reptiles. This diversity of wildlife includes the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
, Vermillion Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo
, Western Tanager
, Lazuli Bunting
, Yuma Clapper Rail
, North American Beaver, Bobcat
, Cougar, Gray fox
, Collared Peccary
, Mule Deer
, Desert Bighorn Sheep
, Ring-tailed Cat
, Razorback sucker
and Bonytail chub
.
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
forests along the lower Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
, creating a unique ecosystem that provides good habitat for resident and migratory wildlife. There are few places where one can stand, look at a Saguaro cactus, a cattail stand, and a cottonwood tree together. This unique blend of upland desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, and desert riparian
Riparian zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by...
habitat provides for a diverse array of birds, mammals, and reptiles. This diversity of wildlife includes the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
The Willow Flycatcher is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.Adults have brown-olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have an indistinct white eye ring, white wing bars and a small bill. The breast is washed with olive-grey. The upper...
, Vermillion Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus americanus, is a cuckoo. Common folk-names for this bird in the southern United States are Rain Crow and Storm Crow...
, Western Tanager
Western Tanager
The Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family , it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family...
, Lazuli Bunting
Lazuli Bunting
The Lazuli Bunting, Passerina amoena, is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli.The male is easily recognized by its bright blue head and back , its conspicuous white wingbars, and its light rusty breast and white belly...
, Yuma Clapper Rail
Clapper Rail
The Clapper Rail is a member of the rail family, Rallidae. Some researchers believe that this bird and the similar King Rail are a single species; the two birds are known to interbreed.-Distribution and habitat:...
, North American Beaver, Bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
, Cougar, Gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
, Collared Peccary
Collared Peccary
The collared peccary is a species of mammal in the family Tayassuidae that is found in North, Central, and South America. They are commonly referred to as javelina, saíno or báquiro, although these terms are also used to describe other species in the family...
, Mule Deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, Desert Bighorn Sheep
Desert Bighorn Sheep
The Desert Bighorn Sheep is a subspecies of Bighorn Sheep that occurs in the desert Southwest regions of the United States and in the northern regions of Mexico. The trinomial of this species commemorates the American naturalist Edward William Nelson...
, Ring-tailed Cat
Ring-tailed Cat
The ringtail is a mammal of the raccoon family , native to arid regions of North America. It is also known as the ringtail cat, ring-tailed cat or miner's cat, and is also sometimes mistakenly called a "civet cat"...
, Razorback sucker
Razorback sucker
The razorback sucker, Xyrauchen texanus, is an endangered fresh water sucker of rivers in the Colorado River drainage of western North America.-Description:...
and Bonytail chub
Bonytail chub
The bonytail chub or bonytail, Gila elegans, is a cyprinid freshwater fish native to the Colorado River of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Utah in the southwestern United States...
.