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WelcomeMalheur National Wildlife Refuge was established on August 18, 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt as the Lake Malheur Bird Reservation. Roosevelt set aside unclaimed lands encompassed by Malheur, Mud and Harney Lakes “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” The newly established “Lake Malheur Bird Reservation” was the 19th of 51 wildlife refuges created by Roosevelt during his tenure as president. At the time, Malheur was the third refuge in Oregon and one of only six refuges west of the Mississippi. The Refuge is located 30 miles south of Burns, Oregon in the southeast corner of the state. The Refuge is open from dawn until dusk each day. The Visitor Center at Refuge Headquarters is open Monday - Thursday from 8:00 to 4:00 and from 8:00 to 3:00 on Friday. The Visitor Center will be open on weekends beginning March 17th from 8:00 to 4:00. The Refuge Museum, located at Headquarters, is open from dawn until dusk each day.
Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day during MayThe refuge will be celebrating International Migratory Bird day all through the month of May. Join volunteer docents for birding tours each Friday and Saturday, and during the Memorial Day weekend (Friday through Monday). Tours are free and are by reservation only. Tours run from 7:00 to 11:00 am and 3:00 to 7:00 pm. For more information check out our flyer. Caspian Terns Begin Nesting on New IslandCaspian Terns have begun nesting on a one-acre rock fill island located on the south-central side of Malheur Lake. The island was designed, funded and constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to encourage nesting of migrating Caspian terns on Malheur Lake rather than in the Columbia River estuary. Terns on the Columbia River typically feed on threatened or endangered juvenile salmon moving into the Pacific Ocean; however terns ending their northward migration on Malheur Lake will have access to an abundance of invasive common carp while nesting. Encouraging terns to remain on Malheur Lake is also expected to benefit the terns by reducing the exposure of part of their population to catastrophic events such as predators, storms and disease.
Caspian tern on nesting island on Malheur Lake with two eggs. Photo Credit Nicole Cook A series of tern decoys and a sound system emitting tern calls was installed on the island April 20th to encourage the terns to remain in the area. Terns began investigating the island soon after it was ready and breeding behavior was observed by the beginning of May. Caspian terns scrap shallow indentations in the fine gravel of the island surface for nests. Two nests containing eggs were documented by observers Nicole Cook and Nate Banet, from Bird Research Northwest, on May 3. Caspian terns are 4-5 years old before they begin breeding; they lay 2-3 eggs and will incubate the eggs for 20-22 days. The adults will feed the juvenile birds small fish for 5-7 months after they fledge from the nest. UPDATE - May 17, 2012 - Twenty-six nests are being incubated. Ten nest scraps have activities which suggest that eggs are present. Observers suspect that nest numbers will continue to increase over the next two or three weeks. Pelicans and cormorants have been observed on the island, but no nesting behaviors have been observed. Observations of tern activity on the nesting island will continue through the end of September and will include monitoring subsequent nests, recording the number of chicks hatched and when they fledge from the nest, identifying the number and types of fish eaten, as well as recording information from banded terns. Colored leg bands provide information about where individual birds were banded, the year they were banded and contain a numeric code for individual birds. The oldest banded Caspian tern lived for 26 years! Two terns banded on East Sand Island in the Columbia River estuary have been sighted using the new island.
A web camera has been set up so that the public can also observe what is happening on the island.
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge 36391 Sodhouse Lane Princeton, Oregon 97721 (541) 493-2612
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Last updated:
May 17, 2012
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