Above herons a roseate spoonbill and other species of water birds gather in a canal near KSC.

Above, herons, a roseate spoonbill and other species of water birds gather in a canal near KSC, which shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Below is an alligator. Nearly 5,000 alligators can be found in canals, ponds, and waterways throughout the Center. The marshes and open water of the refuge also provide wintering areas for 23 species of migratory waterfowl, as well as a year-round home for great blue herons, great egrets, wood storks, cormorants, brown pelicans and other species of marsh and shore birds.