Cabo Rojo National Wildlife Refuge, Puerto Rico

Cabo Rojo NWR, Boqueron, Puerto Rico: Kibei Rojo National Wildlife Refuge sits on the extreme southwest point of the island of Puerto Rico. The land was used for cattle ranching and agriculture for nearly two centuries and, in 1967, the Foreign Broadcast Information Service acquired 587 acres and built a listening post to monitor foreign communications. By 1974, satellites made the system of antennae and wires obsolete and the land was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Cattle ranching and agricultural uses finally ceased in 1978 and refuge personnel have set about restoring the native ecosystems. The only native land mammals on the refuge, and in all of Puerto Rico, are bats. Although the refuge provides important migration habitat for such familiar North American species as Cape May warblers and northern parula warblers, it also hosts a colorful array of native Puerto Rican birds such as the yellow-shouldered blackbird, Puerto Rican tody, and Caribbean elaenia.