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Take a Look Around
Near I-95 and the airport lies America’s first urban wildlife refuge, an unlikely home to special, rare, and endangered animals.
An urban wildlife refuge might sound like an oxymoron but John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge is exactly that. A visitor to the park in Southwest Philly can roam 10 miles of trails, surrounded by teeming plants and wildlife, all the while picking up the faint rumble of cars passing on I-95 and humming of planes taking off from Philadelphia International Airport.
Opened in 1972 and renamed in 1991 for U.S. Sen. John Heinz, who died in a plane crash, Heinz holds the distinction of being the nation’s first wildlife refuge established within a city’s limits. While the refuge is a home for wildlife, it's also a respite for visitors to enjoy the scenery and learn about local wildlife. A main feature of the refuge’s educational and restorative mission is a boardwalk that spans the emergent wetlands.
As the ice melts and spring warmth returns, the refuge’s lakes, ponds, and marshes will be teeming with even more life. Until then here are just a few creatures that call the park home.
Northern red-bellied turtle
Pseudemys rubriventris
These turtles are native to Pennsylvania and recognizable by their dark, domed shells and red bellies. From May to July, they emerge from the refuge’s water to lay eggs in sandy soil nearby, but are otherwise seen sunbathing on logs near the boardwalk. They are a threatened species in Pennsylvania, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, due to the presence of the invasive Red-eared turtle, which competes for food, habitat, and nesting sites.
Tri-colored bat
Perimyotis subflavus
These tiny mammals weigh just 4-8 grams — similar to the weight of a nickel — and are another one of Pennsylvania's endangered species. They are often confused for moths, because of their sporadic flight patterns.
“Although a lot of people have a fear of bats, they are very beneficial to us. They eat a lot of insects like mosquitoes, and they are pollinators,” said Mariana Bergerson, Heinz’s deputy refuge manager and a member of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge staff host bat walks events in the late spring and into the summer, where visitors can observe bats with spotlights.
Great blue heron
Ardea herodias
With wingspans exceeding six and a half feet — approximately the wingspan of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts — this migratory bird is seen at Heinz during spring and summer, wading through the refuge’s shallow waters in search of prey. “They remind people of dinosaurs because they kinda look like pterodactyls when they’re flying,” said Lamar Gore, refuge manager.
A cluster of them can be found nesting atop trees in an area of the refuge called Eagle island, which is named for the bald eagles that are sighted there. The heron nests, collectively known as a rookery, initially started as a colony of four but has since grown to more than ten nests. “They are such big birds that you maybe don’t even think they still nest in trees but they’re up there,” said Yessenia Mendez, Heinz lead biology intern.
Atlantic coast leopard frogs
Perimyotis subflavus
These frogs are an indicator species for the general health of the wetlands. “Their sensitive skin picks up particles through mucus so if you've stopped seeing frogs, they're a great way to tell if there's any type of heavy pollution, or if there's just something wrong in general,” said Mendez. For instance, Heinz is currently fending off the invasive northern snakehead fish that are preying on these frogs.
Lemon cuckoo bumble bee
Bombus citrinus
“One out of every three bites of food that we eat comes to us because of a pollinator — vegetables, apples, and all of that. We wouldn't be able to survive without pollinators ultimately,” said Mendez.
Lemon cuckoo bees also wouldn’t be able to survive without pollinators. Unlike most other bees, that are pollinators, the lemon cuckoo has lost the ability to collect or store pollen. It cannot raise its own young and instead relies on other bee species – which are abundant in the park – to care for its offspring. As a result, the health of the species is closely tied to that of its hosts. These bees face various threats such as pesticides, habitat loss or degradation, climate change, and diseases introduced by non-native bee species.
These are just a few of the hundreds of species of plants, trees, birds, insects, and mammals that visitors to the refuge may observe. “The refuge is the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania, which plays an important role in providing habitat for wildlife, ” according to Bergerson.
“Wetlands have been heavily impacted by development such as road construction and the like for the past 100 years. The fact that we still have wetlands here at Heinz and that these species can be found here is a conservation success story”, said Bergerson.
Entrances to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
There are two entrances to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. The eastern entrance to the refuge is located at 86th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard. The western entrance is on Route 420, just north of I-95. Not all areas are open to the public.
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The refuge draws 106,000 visitors a year. Most of those are bird watchers, hikers, other wildlife observers, and photographers. Heinz also welcomes volunteers interested in leading events such as nature or photography walks and conservation work such as removing invasive species of plants and cleaning up the wetlands.
The visitor center is open Wednesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Refuge trails are open every day from sunrise to sundown.
Find out about the variety of walks and nature programs available at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge year-round here.
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Staff Contributors
- Design and Development: Jasen Lo
- Illustration: Sarah Kaizar
- Photography: Gabe Coffey, Lauren Schneiderman
- Editing: Sam Morris
- Map Illustration: Steve Madden