Alaska birds and birding are fun for everyone. Then there are the Big Year birders, the competitive birders for whom Alaska means life or death in their year long run to see the most birds ever in the American Birding Association (ABA) designated area.
Most birders who participate in the Big Year arrive in Alaska during the spring and/or fall migration in order to add any rare species, mostly seabirds, that might fly through Alaska airspace on their way to or from their breeding grounds. A Big Year in Alaska birds means spotting close to 290 of the approximately 550 species that live in or fly to the state during migration. Some of those species such as the Emperor Goose, Whiskered Auklet and Red-faced Cormorant can be seen only in Alaska.
Tourists with less time on their hands and an interest in efficient birding might want to think Juneau when the think birding. According to a very recent report :
Based on eBird records, the Juneau area boasts the greatest species richness, and importantly the greatest number of observers reporting bird sightings. More than 29,000 eBird checklists for the Juneau reporting area have identified 314 species, including sightings of rare and accidental birds
While there, consider getting a picture of the Willow Ptarmigan, the state bird of Alaska.
Water Birds
Double-breasted Cormorant
Long Billed Dowitcher
Marsh Wren
Pied-billed Grebe
Barrows Goldeneye
Blue Winged Teal
Female Common Merganser
Male Common Merganser
Male Northern Shoveler
Female Northern Shoveler
Male Hooded Merganser
Readhead Duck
Ringneck Duck
Female Northern Pintail
Spotted Sandpiper
Land Birds
Northern Flicker
Scrub Jay
American pipit
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-crowned and White Crowned Sparrows
Chipping Sparrow
Junco
Pine Siskin
Brown Creeper side
Crow
Robin
Starling
Female Goldfinch
Male House Finch
Female House Finch
Male Lesser Goldfinch
Female Lesser Goldfinch
Bald Eagle
Osprey
Orange Crowned Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler