Seasons of Wildlife
Through the seasons, wildlife and plant life changes. Spring will have migration of many different bird species along with various flowering forbs. Summer will entail nesting birds both in the prairies and in the wetlands, and grasses will start to brown due to limited precipitation and warmer days. Grasshoppers will start to come out in late summer. By fall, migration is back on as waterfowl from all around start making their way south. Winter is by far the quietest time of year. If you are lucky you might catch a snowy owl on a fence post, or a flock of sharp-tailed grouse. The open view is available year-round, but it too changes colors with the season.
Featured Species
Creedman Coulee National Wildlife Refuge has a premier native prairie along with the wetlands, thus providing critical habitat to prairie species.
Redhead
The redhead is a diving duck found in shallow freshwater lakes, ponds, and marshes. The redhead is a breeding bid of the northern prairies and associated parklands and the intermountain marshes of western Montana. Redheads typically arrive on the Creedman Coulee National Wildlife Refuge mid-March and leave by mid-November. They prefer semi-permanent to permanently flooded wetlands that support persistent emergent vegetation. Redheads obtain food by diving into water 3 to 9 feet deep, foraging on a variety of aquatic plants.
White-faced Ibis
The white-faced ibis is a wader that probes deep in the mud with its long bill and feeds in shallow water or on the water surface. Ibises typically feed on crayfish, frogs, fishes, insects, newts, earthworms, and crustaceans in freshwater marshes. Most white-faced ibises arrive in Montana in May. Ibises nest in areas where water surrounds emergent vegetation, bushes, shrubs, or low trees. White-face ibis do not require colony and roosting site isolation so nesting colonies are often share with black-crowned night-herons and Franklin’s gulls. Most begin their southern movement in August, and by September they are usually gone from the State.:
Mallard
The mallard is one of the most familiar of ducks found through North America. Mallards use all wetland habitat types and depend on wetland areas and the associated upland habitats to survive. They feed on insects and larvae, aquatic invertebrates, seeds acorns, aquatic vegetation, and grain. They are well adapted to eating both natural and domestic foods such as waste grain from crop harvests. On Creedman Coulee National Wildlife Refuge, mallards typically arrive the beginning of March, peak migration numbers hit in the fall, and decline as the season changes and waters begin to freeze.