KSC-05PD-2174

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. — A contrast in black and white, this snowy egret is spotted near NASA Kennedy Space Center. Its habitat is salt marshes, ponds, rice fields and shallow coastal bays, ranging primarily along the eastern coast from Maine to South America, but including areas of northern California and Oklahoma. This and other wildlife abound throughout KSC as it shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, home to some of the nation’s rarest and most unusual species of wildlife. The wildlife refuge is a habitat for more than 310 species of birds, 25 mammals, 117 fishes and 65 amphibians and reptiles. In addition, the Refuge supports 19 endangered or threatened wildlife species on Federal or State lists, more than any other single refuge in the U.S.