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Calendar of Events

Refuge open daily, year-round, during daylight hours. Call for visitor center seasonal hours. Visitor Center open Monday through Friday 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. during the peak spring and fall months. Visitor Center is closed on weekends in summer and winter months.  Admission is $4 per car for the refuge entrance fee. Off Route 9, southeast of Smyrna via Route 12.

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is a 16,000-acre haven along the Delaware Bay coast east of Smyrna, with salt marshes, ponds, fields, and forests. Visitors come from all over the world to see the variety of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl that stop to feed at the refuge, an important feeding stop on the Atlantic Flyway. Established in 1937, the refuge offers walking and auto tours, birdwatching, nature programs, and a visitor center with a gift shop. Twelve miles of auto tour roads within the refuge, with hiking trails, observation towers, and spotting scopes along the route, lets visitors get close to the birds and other wildlife. Refuge staff conduct programs about the unique horseshoe crab and shorebird connection each spring on Central Delaware’s bay beaches. 

The Allee House at Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge is one of the best-preserved examples of an early brick farmhouse in Delaware. It stands today, as it has since 1753, overlooking expansive fields and marshes. This National Historic Register home features Flemish b ond brickwork and fine interior wood paneling, with typical colonial furnishings. The Allee House is closed until further notice for repairs.

Group Tours
Amenities: Visitor Center with small restroom and gift shop, picnic area, free wildlife movies for groups, wheelchair accessible. Binoculars and cassette tape interpretation available at visitor center for use while on the refuge. Step-on guides available. Tours are also available of the Allee House, a 1753 early brick farmhouse on the refuge property.
Group Tour Rates: $20 per bus or van under 20 people, $30 per bus or van over 30 people. Additional charges for educational programs and step-on guide services. School groups free.
Tour Tips: Allow 1½ to 2 hours for a guided tour or program. Hands-on educational program topics include birding, reptiles and amphibians, wetland and forest studies, and environmental science. Motorcoach may drive on dirt road auto tour loop through the refuge, weather permitting. Group of 50 maximum per tour. Motorcoach parking available on-site. Arrangements suggested a minimum of two weeks in advance for guided tour or program. Don’t forget binoculars, a camera, and outdoor apparel. Best times to visit for birding are May, June, October, November. 

Meeting Facilities
Meeting room for up to 30 people. 
Room in Visitor Center may be reserved for educational, environmental, or scientific programs and meetings.

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Birding at Bombay Hook

Autumn and spring are busy seasons for the Delaware coast, as thousands of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds make their annual journey. One of the best places for birdwatching is Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, east of Smyrna. Bombay Hook is an important feeding and resting stop on the Atlantic Flyway. The 16,000-acre federal refuge is home to 256 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, and 37 species of amphibians and reptiles. The area includes tidal salt marsh, brackish impoundments, freshwater ponds, forests, fields, and meadows. 

October and November are the best months to view waterfowl such as Canada geese, snow geese, and ducks of all kinds. Winter months are quieter on the refuge, and as long as the weather remains mild, some waterfowl make the refuge their winter home. In April, migratory shorebirds begin to arrive along Delaware’s coast. Their numbers peak in May, as they crowd the Delaware Bay beaches to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. 

In May, the refuge participates in National Birding Week festivities by hosting special programs and guided hikes, both on-site and at other nearby state wildlife areas and bay beaches. For more information on this year’s birdwatching programs and events, contact the Bombay Hook NWR Office at 302-653-6872 or 302-653-9345. 

The Horseshoe Crab and Shorebird Connection

Over one million shorebirds converge on the Delaware Bay each spring to feed during their northern migration. The bay is the second largest feeding stopover in the western hemisphere for northbound shorebirds. At the same time, the Delaware Bay is home to the largest population of spawning horseshoe crabs in the world. Many birds fly 5,000 miles nonstop from South America to feast on tiny green horseshoe crab eggs in the sand on Central Delaware beaches. The birds double their weight before flying on to nesting grounds in the Arctic. A horseshoe crab sanctuary has been established northeast of Milford, Delaware, to help protect the recently declining numbers of horseshoe crabs in the Delaware Bay. 

Horseshoe crabs (Limululus polyphemus) are actually not crabs, but are related to spiders and scorpions. This living fossil has changed little in 300 million years. Horseshoe crabs are important to medical research. In the 1950’s it was discovered that the horseshoe crab’s copper-blue blood contains a special clotting agent called lysate, which attaches to bacterial toxins. During spawning, large female horseshoe crabs are bled, tagged, and returned unharmed to the water. Today, every new drug that leaves a pharmaceutical company is first tested for purity with Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate.