Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge

09/10/2026

🛑This upcoming Saturday and Sunday, the Wildlife Drive, Ferguson Bayou Trail, and Woodland Trail are all closed due to the youth liberty hunt happening on September 12-13th.🛑

Deer hunting is a management tool to keep the refuge’s deer population in check. Healthy habitats produce a surplus renewable population for game species. Without conservation management, the deer population would dramatically increase since there are no natural predators remaining in the area to keep their numbers in check. This increases the likelihood of disease as well as starvation due to over-browsing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service views hunting as an importance recreational opportunity and part of our natural heritage as Americans.

The Wildlife Drive and hiking trails will all reopen on Monday September 14th. Below are all listed deer hunts for the 2026 deer hunting season. For any questions, please call 989-777-5930.

Image Credit: A. Martinson/USFWS

09/07/2026

The refuge headquarters will be closed today in observance of Labor Day. Today is also the last day of our first open house of the deer hunting season. Open house days are days when all visitors are allowed to explore off trails and traditionally closed areas of the refuge. Hunters typically use this as a scouting weekend, but open houses are available for all visitors to utilize. Our next open house is September 25th to September 27th.

Photo Credit: A. Martinson/USFWS

09/06/2026

Happy World Shorebirds Day!

Shorebirds are some of the most well-traveled birds in the world. Many spend time at their summer breeding grounds in Alaska and Canada for a span of a mere few weeks before beginning their long migration back south to the Caribbean for the winter. But some travel even further distances, crossing thousands of miles each year from tundra in the arctic all the way down to beaches in the southern hemisphere. Along the way, they need places to stop, rest, and feed before continuing their long journeys. Shiawassee is one such place that many shorebirds use as a pitstop along their routes south. One recent rare shorebird sighting was a marbled godwit, a shorebird that is more often found along the Central Flyway in the middle of North America. What shorebirds have you been seeing in the refuge recently?

Photo Credit: M. Bradtke

09/04/2026

Save the date!

Tomorrow kickstarts our first open house of the fall season. Open house days are days when all visitors are allowed to explore off trails and traditionally closed areas of the refuge. Hunters typically use this as a scouting weekend, but open houses are available for all visitors to utilize. Our first open house is September 5th to September 7th, and our second open house is September 25th to September 27th. If you have any additional questions, give us a call at 989-777-5930. Enjoy exploring the refuge!

Photo Credit: A. Martinson/USFWS

09/02/2026

This week’s Wildlife Wednesday shines the spotlight on a bird that lives at the refuge year-round: the song sparrow!

The song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) enjoys a wide variety of habitats, from forests, to fields, to marshes, lakeshores, and more. Interestingly, while their range spans from Alaska to the eastern United States, song sparrows from different regions of North America look different from each other, with song sparrows living in the Southwest being paler than the song sparrows living in the Pacific Northwest. Some scientists hypothesize that song sparrows living in wet, coastal areas have darker plumage to combat feather mites that are more prevalent in humid climates. While song sparrows typically stay low to the ground, males can often be seen perching on shrubs and small trees to live up to its name and sing to attract mates and defend its territory. See how many song sparrows you can find next time you visit the refuge!

Photo Credit: R. Bohn/USFWS

09/01/2026

Mark your calendars—this upcoming weekend is our first open house of the fall season!

Open house days are days when all visitors are allowed to explore off trails and traditionally closed areas of the refuge. Hunters typically use this as a scouting weekend, but open houses are available for all visitors to utilize. Our first open house is September 5th to September 7th, and our second open house is September 25th to September 27th. If you have any additional questions, give us a call at 989-777-5930. Happy trails!

Photo Credit: A. Martinson/USFWS

08/28/2026

Check it out!

Honeybees are one of the most vital pollinators in the world. They pollinate a myriad of flowers and help humans produce crops such as almonds, lemons, okra, papaya, and watermelon. Honeybees live in intricate colonies and have senses that not only help them communicate with each other, but help navigate their world as well. Honeybees have the ability to sense the earth’s magnetic field and detect electromagnetic waves in the atmosphere. This helps them know when weather patterns shift, such as when thunderstorms are coming. Honeybees are one of many bee species that live in the refuge. What bee species have you seen recently?

Photo Credit: H. Keepers/USFWS

08/26/2026

We are hiring!

Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge is looking for a great maintenance professional to join our team! The position is open to the public. The job posting is open to applications until September 3. Check out the link below to learn more and apply on USAJOBS.

In this role, you will perform skilled maintenance, repair, construction, and heavy-equipment work supporting the Service's conservation mission. You will operate, maintain, and troubleshoot electric and gas-powered pumps, transport equipment and trailers with a Commercial Driver's License (CDL), su...

08/25/2026

Time for a woody Trivia Tuesday!

Michigan has many different oak species, including red oak, pin oak, and chestnut oak. One oak species that grows in the refuge is the white oak, identifiable by its smooth, lobed leaves. Oak trees are famous for being thirsty—but do you know how many gallons of water a mature white oak tree, like this one along the Woodland Trail in the refuge, can drink per day? Comment your guess and find out the answer at 5pm!

A) 50 gallons
B) 75 gallons
C) 100 gallons
D) 150 gallons

Photo Credit: A. Martinson/USFWS

08/21/2026

Ready for your fun fact of the day?

Turkey vultures are fascinating birds for many reasons, but did you know that they lack a syrinx—the vocal organ of birds? They can only vocalize through grunts and low hisses. Vultures can migrate in massive flocks, sometimes numbering in the thousands! Have you seen a turkey vulture in the refuge recently?

Photo Credit: R. Lowe/USFWS