| Sutter National Wildlife Refuge | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
 | |
  Map of the United States | |
| Location | Sutter County, California, United States |
| Nearest city | Yuba City, California |
| Coordinates | 39°04′59″N121°45′22″W / 39.08294°N 121.75608°W Coordinates: 39°04′59″N121°45′22″W / 39.08294°N 121.75608°W [1] |
| Area | 2,591 acres (10.49 km2) |
| Established | 1945 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |
| Website | Sutter National Wildlife Refuge |
Sutter National Wildlife Refuge, the southern-most refuge in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is located in the Sacramento Valley of California, about 50 miles (80 km) north of the metropolitan area of Sacramento. The refuge consists of about 2,600 acres (11 km2), consisting primarily of wetland impoundments with some riparian and grassland habitat.
The Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex is part of the United States system of National Wildlife Refuges (NWR). It is located in northern California, in the valley of the Sacramento River.
The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California counties. Although many areas of the Sacramento Valley are rural, it contains several urban areas, including the state capital, Sacramento.
California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With 39.6 million residents, California is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area. The state capital is Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions, with 18.7 million and 8.8 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second most populous, after New York. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second-most densely populated major city after New York and the fifth-most densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs.
About 80 percent of the refuge is located in the Sutter Bypass, a floodwater bypass from the Sacramento River that floods at least once a year and may cover portions of the refuge with up to 12 feet (3.7 m) of water. Sutter Refuge typically supports wintering populations of more than 175,000 ducks and 50,000 geese.
The Sacramento River is the principal river of Northern California in the United States, and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for 400 miles (640 km) before reaching the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay. The river drains about 26,500 square miles (69,000 km2) in 19 California counties, mostly within the fertile agricultural region bounded by the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada known as the Sacramento Valley, but also extending as far as the volcanic plateaus of Northeastern California. Historically, its watershed has reached as far north as south-central Oregon where the now, primarily, endorheic (closed) Goose Lake rarely experiences southerly outflow into the Pit River, the most northerly tributary of the Sacramento.
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the waterfowl family Anatidae which also includes swans and geese. Ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the family Anatidae; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.
Geese are waterfowl of the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera Anser and Branta . Chen, a genus comprising 'white geese', is sometimes used to refer to a group of species that are more commonly placed within Anser. Some other birds, mostly related to the shelducks, have "goose" as part of their names. More distantly related members of the family Anatidae are swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller.
The mixed riparian forest habitat on the refuge is important for breeding and migrating passerine birds, and supports a large heron/egret rookery. The refuge provides habitat for several Federal and State endangered and threatened species, including giant garter snake, winter-run Chinook salmon, yellow-billed cuckoo, and Swainson's hawk.
A passerine is any bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or – less accurately – as songbirds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by the arrangement of their toes, which facilitates perching. With more than 110 families and some 6,409 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest order of birds and among the most diverse orders of terrestrial vertebrates.
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as bitterns, and, together with the zigzag heron, or zigzag bittern, in the monotypic genus Zebrilus, form a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white or have decorative plumes in breeding plumage. Herons, by evolutionary adaptation, have long beaks.
Egrets are herons which have white or buff plumage, and develop fine plumes during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons and have the same build.
