Featured Species

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge was established by Congress in 1980 for the protection of neotropical migratory songbird habitat and threatened and endangered species like the green, loggerhead and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles as well as the Alabama beach mouse.  Bon Secour represents an important stopover and staging habitat for neotropical migratory songbirds during the fall and spring migration along the Alabama coastline. Migratory birds utilize this area for resting and building fat reserves critical to successful migration

A green sea turtle swims along the bottom of the reef.

The green sea turtle grows to a maximum size of about 4 feet and a weight of 440 pounds. It has a heart-shaped shell, small head, and single-clawed flippers. Color is variable. Hatchlings generally have a black carapace, white plastron, and white margins on the shell and limbs. The adult...

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Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
A greenish brown sea turtle laying on the beach

The Kemp's ridley turtle is the smallest of the sea turtles, with adults reaching about 2 feet in length and weighing up to 100 pounds. The adult Kemp's ridley has an oval carapace that is almost as wide as it is long and is usually olive-gray in color. The carapace has five pairs of costal...

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Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
A large sea turtle swimming along a reef

Loggerheads were named for their relatively large heads, which support powerful jaws and enable them to feed on hard-shelled prey, such as whelks and conch. The carapace (top shell) is slightly heart-shaped and reddish-brown in adults and sub-adults, while the plastron (bottom shell) is...

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Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Species
Adult Alabama beach mice are brown above, sometimes with darker stripe down back; white below. Tail short, dark on top. Juvenile and subabult Alabama beach mice may be gray above; white below but transition to brown when approaching adult status.
FWS Focus
Species
Kingdom
Animalia
Taxonomic Rank
Subspecies

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