Resources

Emperor Geese Chen canagica, Woman’s Bay, Kodiak, 31 October 2008.

Internet rare bird alerts (RBAs), discussions and listservs:

AKBirding. A Yahoo discussion group dedicated to birding in Alaska.
Alaska RBA. A moderated RBA for Alaska. Sightings of birds listed as “rare”, “casual” or “accidental” on the Alaska checklist are posted here. Click here to subscribe. Click here to read recent reports.
Beringia Birders. A Yahoo discussion group for birding in far western and northern Alaska.
Boreal Birders. A Yahoo discussion group for birding in interior Alaska.
Eagle Chat. A Yahoo discussion group for birding in southeast Alaska.
Sitka Birds. A discussion group for birds in the Sitka area.

Telephone RBAs:

Fairbanks area: (907) 451-9213
Homer area: (907) 235-7337
Kenai NWR: (907) 262-2300

Guided birding trips in Alaska:

Wilderness Birding Adventures. There are a number of good options for companies leading birding trips in Alaska. Most are based outside of Alaska. Wilderness Birding Adventures is an Alaskan based company with guides that live in Alaska year round. Theirs are tours of exceptional quality, led by Alaskans for over 22 years. Full disclosure: I lead tours for Wilderness Birding Adventures.

Useful Publications:

Much has been written on the birds of Alaska. Here is a short list of some of my favorite articles and books.

The official Alaska bird checklist published by UAF

Benter, R. B., Renner, H.M. and Renner, M. 2005. First record of a Shy Albatross in Alaska. Western Birds 36:135-137.
Cambell, W. R., Sealy, S. G., Wahl, T. R., and Walker, R. P. 2008. Status of Red-legged Kittiwake (Rissa Brevirostris) in British Columbia with notes on its occurrence in Canada and the Continental United States. Wildlife Afield 5: 3-11.
Day, R. H. 2006. Seabirds in the northern Gulf of Alaska and adjacent waters, October to May. Western Birds 37:190-214.
Gabrielson, I. N., and Lincoln, F. C. 1959. The Birds of Alaska. Stackpole, Harrisburg, PA.
Gibson, D. D., and Byrd, G. V. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Nuttall Ornithological Club and the American Ornithologists’ Union. Series in Ornithology 1.
Gibson, D. D., Heinl, S. C., Tobish, T. G., Jr. 2003. Report of the Alaska Checklist Committee, 1997-2002. Western Birds 34:122-132.
Gibson, D. D., Heinl, S. C., Tobish, T. G., Jr. 2008. Report of the Alaska Checklist Committee, 2003-2007. Western Birds 39:189-201.
Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1989. Geographic variation in the Marbled Godwit and description of an Alaskan subspecies. Condor 91:436-443.
Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1992. Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska 1976-1991. Condor 94:454-467.
Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.
Heinl, S. C., and Piston, A. W. 2009. Birds of the Ketchikan area, southeast Alaska. Western Birds 40:54-144.
Isleib, M. E., and Kessel, B. 1973. Birds of the North Gulf Coast-Prince William Sound region, Alaska. Biol. Papers Univ. Alaska 14.
Johson, J. A., Andres, B. A., and Bissonette, J. A. 2008. Birds of the major mainland rivers of southeast Alaska. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 88p.
Kessel, B. 1989. Birds of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska. Univ. Alaska Press, Fairbanks.
Kessel, B., and Gibson, D. D. 1978. Status and distribution of Alaska birds. Studies Avian Biol. 1.
Lehman, P. E. 2005. Fall migration at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Western Birds 36:2-55.
Pranty, B., J.L. Dunn, S.C. Heinl, A.W. Kratter, P.E. Lehman, M.W. Lockwood, B. Mactavish, and K.J. Zimmer. 2008. ABA Checklist: Birds of the Continental United States and Canada, seventh edition. American Birding Association. Colorado Springs, CO.

A great site for finding many of these articles is the Searchable Ornithological Research Archive (SORA), maintained by the University of New Mexico. Here you can read and download pre-2007 issues of Western Birds and pre-2000 issues of the Condor as well as several other major ornithological journals.

Useful Alaska Links:

Websites maintained by other Alaskan birders:

Sitka Nature. The website of Sitka birder Matt Goff. Great stuff here on all aspects of the nature of southeast Alaska.
Birds of Shishmaref. A website by birder and high school teacher Ken Stenek. Many birders visit the Seward Peninsula in the spring, but only a few birders live there year round. This site has photos of McKay’s Buntings and House Sparrows!

General Birding Resources:

Macaulay Library. An excellent library of bird recordings and videos maintained by the Cornell Laboratory of Orntithology.
Xenocanto. “The community database of shared bird sounds from the Americas.” This site is an excellent resource and a lot of fun. From it you can also go to Xenocanto sites for Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia.
Oriental Bird Club Image Database. A wonderful, and very large, collection of bird photographs from the Oriental region. This is a great resource for photos of potential vagrants to Alaska.

ANMUe