Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge (original) (raw)

Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge is a coastal salt marsh along the south-central coast of Maui, Hawaiʻi. The refuge is located between the towns of Kihei and Maalaea, on both sides of North Kihei Road, Route 31. The wetland is also a 691-acre (2.80 km2) bird sanctuary, home to 30 species of waterfowl, shorebirds, and migratory ducks, including the ʻaukuʻu (black-crowned night heron, Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli) and the endangered āeʻo (Hawaiian stilt, Himantopus mexicanus knudseni) and ʻalae kea (Hawaiian coot, Fulica alai). Kealia Pond was selected as a wildlife refuge in 1953, protecting an initial 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land. The refuge joined the National Wildlife Refuge System in 1992.