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The McFaddin and Texas Point refuges, located along Hwy. 87 about 15 miles south of Port Arthur, preserve nearly 60,000 acres of coastal marsh.
The refuges provide habitats for wintering and migrating waterfowl, alligators and coastal marsh animals, as well as a nursery area for the Gulf of Mexico's fin- and shellfish.
From October to March, thousands of geese feed and rest here. Ducks on the refuge can number up to 100,000 with more than 24 species, including the mottled duck, a year-round resident.
During spring, large concentrations of migrating songbirds fly through the upper Texas coast, with peak migration in April. During this time, woodlots may be speckled with these colorful neotropical migrants resting after their exhausting 600-mile journey across the Gulf of Mexico. Neotropical migratory birds nest in temperate North America and winter in Central and South America. Warblers, vireos, grosbeaks, tanagers, orioles and buntings are but a few of the nearly 280 species of birds found on the refuges.
Once on the brink of extinction, American alligators may be seen sunning on a bank, floating in the bayous or crossing the roads. McFaddin has one of the highest density of alligators found in Texas. Most easily seen during spring, alligators are often visible throughout the summer and fall.
Some of the mammal species found on the refuges include muskrat, river otter, raccoon, striped skunk, bobcat, gray fox and coyote.
Some large, darkly colored coyotes are most likely descendants of hybrid crosses with red wolves. Although the red wolf once roamed the coastal marshes, they are no longer found in Southeast Texas. Generally, most mammals are nocturnal and are not commonly seen by visitors during the day.
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