Benton Lake National Wildlife Refuge protects a wetland and prairie landscape in central Montana north of Great Falls, centered on a broad shallow lake and a large seasonal marsh on the western edge of the northern Great Plains. It is especially significant for birdlife, serving as a major migration stop and breeding area where huge numbers of ducks, geese, swans, shorebirds, and nesting Franklin's gulls gather. About 240 bird species have been recorded there, with nearly 90 known to nest. Its prairie and wetlands also support raptors, grassland birds, and mammals such as coyote, badger, deer, muskrat, and pronghorn, while the refuge anchors a much larger regional conservation complex.