Common gallinules swim in a shallow waterway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.

Common gallinules search for food in a waterway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- A mother gallinule (right) calls her two chicks to enter the algae-covered water in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which shares a boundary with Kennedy Space Center. Gallinules, called Moorhens in the Old World, are duck-like swimming birds that constantly bob their heads while moving. They are identified by the prominent red bill with yellow tip and red frontal shield as well as white feathers under the tail, as shown here on the mother. Gallinules range throughout the Americas, from southern Canada to southern South America, inhabiting freshwater marshes and ponds with cattails and other aquatic vegetation. The 92,000-acre wildlife refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. The marshes and open water of the refuge provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds

A common gallinule swims in a waterway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Common Gallinule perches in the grass on the edge of a canal on NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The undeveloped property on Kennedy Space Center is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge provides a habitat for a plethora of wildlife, including 330 species of birds. For information on the refuge, visit http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/Index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper

A Common Gallinule wades in a waterway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2020. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 25 mammal, 117 fish and 65 amphibian and reptile species call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.

A Common Gallinule wades in a waterway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 22, 2020. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 25 mammal, 117 fish and 65 amphibian and reptile species call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two common gallinules swim through the algae-covered water of a pond at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, consisting of 140,000 acres. The refuge provides a wide variety of habitats -- coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, freshwater impoundments, scrub, pine flatwoods, and hardwood hammocks -- that provide sanctuary for more than 1,500 species of plants and animals, including about 331 species of birds. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

Two common gallinules (with red beaks) and a mottled duck wade in a marshy waterway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 16, 2022. The center shares a border with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. More than 330 native and migratory bird species, along with 65 amphibian and reptile species call Kennedy and the wildlife refuge home.