Wildlife and Protected Species
The refuge, along with the Great White Heron National Wildlife Refuge, represents the last of the offshore (and raccoon-free) islands in the lower Florida Keys available as critical nesting, roosting, wading and loafing habitat to over 250 avian species — particularly wading birds. The area managed is overwhelmingly (99 percent) marine environment including large sand flats surrounding the islands that are used extensively by foraging wading birds.
The refuge protects habitat for a wide variety of birds, including nesting and /or wintering populations of terns, Magnificent Frigatebirds, White-crowned Pigeons, Ospreys, and Great White Herons. Several federally-listed species are monitored such as Piping Plover and Bald Eagle. Birds in the refuge are doing well as evidenced by stable or increasing populations and nest numbers.
The sandy beaches are nesting areas for the endangered Atlantic green and loggerhead turtles and is the only breeding site in the U.S. for the endangered hawksbill turtle. Sea turtle nests are surveyed each year to track nesting and reproduction of the turtles. There are few beaches in the refuge suitable for sea turtle nesting, thus there are typically less than 50 nests found each year. Green sea turtles nests are increasing which is a positive sign since green sea turtle activity had not changed in several years. The low number of nests makes it difficult to determine nesting trends, but activity appears to be stable.
Read more about this topic: Key West National Wildlife Refuge
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