Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
| Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary | |
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IUCN category Ib (wilderness area)
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| Location | Collier County, Florida, United States |
| Nearest city | Naples, Florida |
| Coordinates | 26°25′4.41″N 81°32′18.33″W / 26.4178917°N 81.5384250°WCoordinates: 26°25′4.41″N 81°32′18.33″W / 26.4178917°N 81.5384250°W |
| Governing body | National Audubon Society |
| Designated | March 23, 2009 |
| Designated | March 1964 |
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a National Audubon Society sanctuary located in southwest Florida, north of Naples, Florida and east of Bonita Springs, in the United States. The sanctuary was established to protect one of the largest remaining stands of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and pond cypress (T. ascendens) in North America from extensive logging that was ongoing throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
The Corkscrew Cypress Rookery Association was formed in 1954 to protect the area. The National Audubon Society accepted responsibility for management and started constructing the first boardwalk through the swamp in 1955. In all, nearly 45 square kilometres (17 sq mi) of wetland was purchased or donated (most from or by the owners, Lee Tidewater Cypress Center Co. and Collier Enterprises).
Today, a boardwalk of a little over 3 km (1.9 mi) length provides walking access through (actually 'over') pine flatwoods, wet prairie, pond cypress, bald cypress, and marsh ecosystems within the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is a 'gateway site' for the Great Florida Birding Trail. It is an important breeding area for the endangered wood stork and other wetland birds. It also has wintering passerines, including the painted bunting. Numerous wading bird species can be found in the wetlands of the sanctuary, including the yellow-crowned night heron, black-crowned night heron, tricolored heron, great egret, and snowy egret. Specialist birds include limpkin, barred owl and, in summer, swallow-tailed kite. The sanctuary visitor center is a Living Machine demonstration site.
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