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Quivira National Wildlife Refuge
Sand dunes and century-old cottonwood trees punctuate this salt and fresh water marsh which harbors over 500,000 birds during spring and fall migrations. Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has two short easy walking trails, but birds and wildlife are easily seen from your vehicle.
Like Cheyenne Bottoms, 22,000-acre Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has been designated a “Wetland of International Importance” by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. But unlike Cheyenne Bottoms, some of the marshes at Quivira are salty. In this area, fresh groundwater rests on a layer of salt water. An upthrust in the bedrock forces salt water into Rattlesnake Creek and nearby springs. Evaporation can make the marshes far saltier than the ocean. The salt flats around these marshes are the preferred breeding habitat for increasingly rare birds like the least tern and snowy plover.
 Quivira National Wildlife Refuge conserves not only wetlands, but also extensive native prairie. Here, you'll see raptors like peregrine falcon, Swainson's hawk, and bald eagle soaring overhead, and upland birds like ring-necked pheasant, northern bobwhite (quail), and wild turkey foraging in the grasslands.
When managing Quivira's prairie habitats, refuge managers try to mimic natural patterns. Bison once roamed these grasslands. Now cattle graze here, carefully managed to replicate the beneficial effects of bison herds. Lightning strikes and native peoples ignited fires that encouraged lush new grasses. Likewise, the refuge uses fire to enhance the prairie.
Wildlife watching:
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