Thousands of ducks, geese, and other migratory birds spend the winter there. The area is especially noted for wintering sand hill cranes. A check list is available. The Red Hills in Tuolumne County are composed of a massive serpentine outcropping. The soil is poor, supporting a foothill pine-buckbrush habitat with no oak trees.
Wildlife are few.
It is however, one of the few places outside the California Desert where roadrunners can be found. In the winter, bald eagles are occasionally seen along the shore of Lake Don Pedro. The Dave Moore Nature Area in El Dorado County near Coloma offers an opportunity to walk a trail through typical Sierra foothill habitat, including the South Fork American River. The birds are those found in a forest habitat, including woodpeckers, quail, Cooper's hawk, warblers, and flycatchers. This is a U.S. Government computer system.