Wildlife Refuges and General Listings of Wildlife Species

A series of wildlife refuges and wildlife management areas covering large areas of the valley provide rich, protected habitat for wildlife. (Check Interactive map for locations along the Mississippi River Corridor)

• Lower Hatchie NWR
• Chickasaw NWR
• Reelfoot Lake NWR and WMA
• Lake Isom NWR
• Eagle Lake Refuge
• John Tully WMA
• Moss Island WMA
• White Lake Refuge
• Bogota WMA
• Black Bayou Refuge
• Cold Creek Refuge
• Ernest Rice WMA
• Tumbleweed WMA
• President’s Island WMA

Millions of birds, over 40% of all bird species in the U. S., migrate along the Mississippi River flyway each year during the fall and spring and depend upon it for feeding and resting.  The migration corridor is also indispensable to the life-cycle of many birds. The great raptors, including the bald eagle, with a wing-span that is up to eight feet long, are among the many species of birds that can be seen along the river in Tennessee.  Major species are the following:

Land Birds

• Bald eagle
• Mississippi kite
• Cerulean warbler
• Swainson’s warbler
• Red-shouldered hawk
• Acadian flycatcher
• Painted bunting
• Short-eared owl
• Northern harrier
• Orchard oriole
• Red-eyed vireo
• Prothonotary warbler
• Redheaded woodpecker
• Red-winged blackbird
• Dickcissel
• Yellow-billed cuckoo

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Waterfowl

• Canada goose
• Snow goose
• Wood duck
• Mallard
• Northern pintail
• American black duck
• Greater scaup
• Lesser scaup
• Redhead
• Canvasback
• Ring-necked duck
• American wigeon
• Blue-winged teal

Shorebirds

• Least tern (endangered species)
• Least sandpiper
• American golden plover
• Greater yellowlegs
• Pectoral sandpiper
• Semi-palmated plover
• Black-necked stilt

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Water Birds

• Great blue heron
• Little blue heron
• Black-crowned night heron
• Great egret
• Snowy egret
• White ibis
• American white pelican

The Mississippi holds more ancient species of fish than any other body of water in the United States.  Extinct relatives of the lamprey date back 500 million years and were the first vertebrates to appear in fossil records, while extinct relatives of the sturgeon date back 350 million years.  Species include the following:

• Paddlefish
• Gar (alligator, spotted, longnose and shortnose)
• Sturgeon (shovelnose and pallid, an endangered species)
• Bowfin
• Lamprey
• American eel

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The Mississippi has the most productive freshwater fish habitat in the United States, with at least 195 identified species of fish.  Among the many non-ancient species are the following:

• Bass (largemouth, spotted)
• White bass
• Striped bass
• Buffalo
• Catfish (channel, blue, flathead)
• Sauger
• Brim
• Bluegill
• Crappie (black, white
• Drum
• Mullet
• Carp (non-indigenous fish)

Wildlife Website Links:

TWRA Wildlife & Hunting Information
Tennessee Wildlife Federation
Deer Hunting in Tennessee
American Eagle Foundation
Atlas of Amphibians in Tennessee
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

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