Cibola National Wildlife Refuge occupies the lower Colorado River floodplain between Arizona and California in the Yuma Desert, where the river and its backwaters form a rare, life-sustaining corridor in an extremely hot, dry landscape. Including both the river’s historic channel and a channelized section from the late 1960s, it supports important backwaters and a rich variety of wildlife. As one of the last major stopovers on the Pacific Flyway, it provides critical resting and feeding habitat for migratory birds, with more than 250 bird species recorded. The refuge also shelters mammals and protects one of only three desert pupfish populations in Arizona through ongoing habitat management.