Cape May National Wildlife Refuge protects a major wildlife habitat on New Jersey’s Cape May Peninsula and is especially significant for migratory birds. Established in January 1989 with 90 acres, it has grown to more than 11,000 acres across three units. The peninsula’s geography funnels migrants southward, making the refuge a crucial stopover where vast numbers of songbirds, raptors, woodcock, and shorebirds rest and feed. Its Delaware Bay shoreline is one of North America’s leading spring staging areas for shorebirds, supported by horseshoe crab spawning. The refuge also shelters many mammals, reptiles, amphibians, threatened species, and rare plants, and part of it was designated a Wetland of International Importance in 1992.