Page 36 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Alaska

34  INTRODUCING ALASK A

Birds of Alaska

From tiny hummingbirds to enormous trumpeter swans,
Alaska’s bird life is varied and prolific, with 437 identified
species and over 60 incidental visitors. Bald eagles
can be spotted in old-growth timber, while sandpipers
and peeps scurry around at the water’s edge. Countless
migratory birds summer in Alaska, and loons, snow
geese, and herons can be seen at lakes and ponds across
the state. On the remote Pribilofs, red-legged kittiwakes, Bird-watching is popular on
puffins, crested auklets, and many others nest on the coastal cruises, such as this tour
storm-battered sea cliffs. at Glacier Bay.

Cliff-nesters
Many Alaskan seabirds nest on sea cliffs to protect
their nests and hatchlings from predators. The best
places to see nesting gannets, fulmars, petrels,
cormorants, puffins, kittiwakes, and other cliff-
nesting birds include Glacier Bay, Kenai Fjords
National Park, and the Pribilof Islands.
Thick-billed murres inhabit large cliff
colonies, but do not build nests, instead
laying their eggs on bare rock.

Glaucous gulls, among the world’s largest gulls,
live on the Pribilof Islands (see pp216–17) and on
the western and northern coasts, from the Yukon-
Kuskokwim Delta to Canada’s northern regions.
The similar, but smaller, glaucous-winged gull
breeds along Alaska’s southern coasts.

Black-billed magpies have a lustrous
green iridescence on their wings and
tails. They can be seen in open
country, but need birch, cotton-
woods, or shrubs for nesting.
Winter Birds
Most nesting and
migratory birds in Alaska go
south in winter, but Steller’s jays,
magpies, ravens, and ptarmigan
are year-round residents. The
availability of food in towns has
changed the migratory patterns The willow ptarmigan, the
of ducks and geese and it is often The raven has long been official state bird, is seen all
possible to see them in mid-winter revered by indigenous peoples year round. Its plumage,
in the Southeast. Chickadees, nut- as the creator of the world brilliant white in winter,
hatches, and other small birds that and bringer of daylight. These becomes a mottled brown
winter in Alaska can also be seen intelligent corvids especially like in summer to blend in with
around bird-feeders in the south. to raid urban garbage bags. the forest floor.

034-035_EW_Alaska.indd 34 02/05/17 2:28 pm