Birding Alaska

Passerines are starting to flock up and move around in Homer. This afternoon a mixed flock of at least 75 birds moved through my backyard. The deck made a perfect canopy tower for photography as the birds foraged in a nearby elderberry. The flock contained six species of warblers–not too bad for an Alaskan mixed flock. Northern Waterthrush is the only warbler regular to the area that wasn’t in today’s flock. I thought I’d make a warbler post to practice typing the “new” scientific names of these species. Click here to get up to speed on the latest taxonomic changes to the AOU list.

Wilson’s Warblers Cardellina pusilla, Homer, 3 August 2011.

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Yellow-rumped Warblers Dendroica coronata, Strawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, 17 August 2010.

I had about an hour today to head back to Strawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, before I had to return to the NOAA Ship Oscar Dyson in time to leave on a cruise in the southern Bering Sea. Yesterday’s Fox Sparrows were still present and were trumped today by two Yellow-rumped Warblers! The first warbler was with the Fox Sparrows on the top of the hill. The second was in the tall spruce trees that border the small lake just south of the hill.

Gibson and Byrd (2007) list Yellow-rumped Warbler as “casual in fall in eastern, central and western Aleutians.” The first records for Unalaska/Dutch Harbor were one at Strawberry Hill on 22 September 2009, followed by one on the hill on 10 October 2009 and two at the Sitka Spruce Children’s Park (near Strawberry Hill) on 11 October 2009.

A lone Bank Swallow flew by me on my walk back to the ship.

• 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.

Fox Sparrow Passerella illiaca unalaschensis, Strawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, 16 August 2010.

My favorite thing to do in Dutch Harbor/Unalaska is to bird the planted sitka spruce trees around the town. The best group of trees is the robust stand that grows in a protected gulley on the top of Strawberry Hill. Many, many good birds have been found in this migrant trap over the years including a number of island firsts and a few firsts for the Aleutians! Nearly every trip through the stand has a surprise. This time it was a trio of adult Fox Sparrows–the first I’ve seen on the island. Although this race of Fox Sparrow (unalaschensis) was first collected at Unalaska Island, it is “extralimital at the type locality.” (Gibson and Kessel 1997). The western limits of its range are the alder thickets of Unimak Island, the first island in the Aleutians. Gibson and Byrd (2007) remark that the species is “casual or intermittant in spring and summer in eastern Aleutians beyond Unimak Pass” where it’s preferred habitat doesn’t exist.  Breeding east of Unimak was first suspected in 2003 when a “full-tailed juvenile” was found at Unalaska, but wasn’t confirmed until very recently by local birder Suzi Golodoff and visiting bird guru, Rich MacIntosh.

Pacific Wren Troglodytes pacificus kiskensis, Stawberry Hill, Dutch Harbor, 16 August 2010.

Also present on Strawberry Hill was a regular resident and breeder on the island–the Pacific Wren, or Winter Wren T. troglodytes as it’s now known by the American Ornitholgists’ Union. It was split from the Winter Wren (which occurs in eastern North America, on the basis of vocalizations and mitochondrial DNA differences. Click here for details of this and other revisions to the AOU Check-list.

Other birds of note yesterday were three Bank Swallows still flying over town. This is just a few days shy of the late date for the Aleutian Islands.

• 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., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.

Leucistic Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Seaside Farm, Homer, 24 August 2009.

The breeding race of Fox Sparrows in the Homer area is P. i. sinuosa, part of the “Sooty” group of Fox Sparrows occuring along the coast of Alaska as far west as Unimak Island in the eastern Aleutians (Gibson and Kessel 1997). Sooty Fox Sparrows are supposed to be just that, sooty in color, but there’s always an oddball. This leucistic individual is identified as a Fox Sparrow by size, shape and voice.  It shows the large, round head and thick, bicolored bill of the species. Mossy Kilcher called me to tell me about this bird which has been hanging around her feeders most of the summer; Mossy’s feeders have a knack for attracting unusual birds! I stopped by this week and was fortunate to see it and get a few photos–a sharp looking bird.

A normally pigmented Sooty Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Hornaday Hillside Park, Homer, 26 August 2009.

Juvenile Sooty Fox Sparrow Passerella iliaca sinuosa, Seaside Farm, Homer, 24 August 2009.

These last two photos are examples of normally pigmented Sooty Fox Sparrows. The downy feathers on the head, breast and sides of the bird in the last photo identify it as a juvenile.

Gibson, D. D., and Kessel, B. 1997. Inventory of the species and subspecies of Alaska birds. Western Birds 28:45-95.