 Bosque de la Pache This is the winter home for tens of thousands of migratory birds which travel from Canada and the northern United States to New Mexico. The Bosque serves as part of America's wildlife refuge system. The sights and sounds of birds in flight capture people's hearts and imaginations like no other natural wonder. Bosque de la Pache is a Spanish phrase meaning woods of the Apache. 17th century Spanish settlers named the place after Native Americans who resided in what is now central New Mexico. To the real ground, the Bosque today serves as a refuge for birds and mammals alike. To stand and watch the flights of these great birds gives inspiration to the soul and makes the flying attempt of the Greek mythological character Icarus comprehensible. One of the more graceful winter residents of Bosque de la Pache is the Sand Hill Crane. Every fall, the greater Sand Hills migrate 800 air miles from Idaho to the Bosque. They spend the majority of the season within the refuge's protected borders, roosting in the marshes at night and flying to nearby fields for eating during the day. This local daily commute from resting to feeding grounds offers the chance to see these majestic animals in flight when companion of the Sand Hills is the Whooping Crane. The Hooper is at the Bosque are the result of an experiment to help increase this endangered species' numbers. Years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Greys Lake, Idaho in cooperation with Canadian biologists seeded Sand Hill nests with Whooping Crane eggs in hopes of increasing the Hooper population. Sand Hill parents fostered the baby Whooping Cranes and the new family additions adopted the migratory habits of the Sand Hills. These majestic white birds seen at the Bosque today are a result of this program. The Bosque offers shelter to almost 300 other bird species. Water birds include the well-known mallard represented here by the multicolored male and the beige-colored female, the appropriately named northern shoveler, the American coot, and the northern pintail. There are Canada geese and great numbers of snow geese. Birds of prey include the red-tailed hawk and the American kestrel. Here, the female is on the top branch while the male purges below. Species vary from the blackbird to the canyon toy to the elusive green-backed heron. The greater yellow legs is a regular resident of the Bosque, frequently feeding near water's edge. Other common birds are the American pipit and the kildare. Rio Grande wild turkeys inhabit the brush areas of the Bosque. When they stray into open field areas, however, they are always vulnerable to attack from predators such as the coyote. The leader of the flock in her own slow and deliberate way eventually leads the group back to the safety of the brush. Once again concealed, the turkeys are relatively secure from their enemies. Indeed, the beauty of Bosque del Apache makes it one of the premier wildlife areas in America. It provides not only a refuge for its mammals and birds, but an important sanctuary, although temporal, for us humans as well.