The Pacific Flyway and the Eagles

Southwest of Klamath Falls, straddling the Oregon and California line, spread the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges, one of the great gatherings of birds on the planet. The oldest of them, the Lower Klamath refuge, was set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt in nineteen oh eight as the very first waterfowl refuge in the United States. In spring and fall these marshes host the largest concentration of migrating waterfowl on the entire Pacific Flyway.

At the peak of migration, the sky can hold more than a million ducks, geese, and other birds, a roar of wings that fills the whole basin. But the most famous visitors come in winter. The Klamath Basin draws the largest wintering gathering of bald eagles anywhere in the lower forty eight states.

Many roost together at nearby Bear Valley refuge, set aside in nineteen seventy eight just to protect their night roosts, then fan out at dawn to hunt over the frozen wetlands. The refuges also stage a large share of the Central Valley's sandhill cranes and tens of thousands of shorebirds. In recent years drought has left parts of these wetlands bone dry, a warning that even this ancient crossroads of birds depends on water people fight over.