Welcome to Alaska eBird
Birding News and Features
Using the eBird Comments Fields
eBird has two comments fields that can be used however you choose. While birders sometimes leave these fields blank, entering submission notes can help make your checklist more valuable. Your comments can assist our eBird reviewers as they try to assess records of rare and unusual birds. By supplying some extra information in your comments you can make your records easier to interpret and make the review process faster. Your eBird data (including comments fields) are also shared with editors of local and regional bird journals, authors of articles and books on bird distribution, state wildlife agencies, and conservationists.
The trouble with 'X' - Why you should always estimate numbers!
Over the years, eBird has been flexible about allowing users to report either species number, or just an 'X' to indicate presence. In our latest round of analysis, however, we found that checklists where users estimated numbers for ALL species encountered were of significantly higher conservation value when compared with those that contain 'Xs', or even a single 'X' mixed in with numbers. In this piece we'll talk about why recording numbers is important, as well as provide some guidance as to how to estimate numbers in difficult situations. Read more about why making your best estimate of numbers always trumps the dreaded 'X'!
Help Solve the Mystery of Hudsonian Godwit Migration
It may seem like very few mysteries remain regarding birds that breed in North America. However, Hudsonian Godwits still represent a true mystery: we do not know how they migrate between their breeding grounds in northern Canada and Alaska and their wintering areas in extreme southern South America. Between their staging areas in southern Alaska and Canada and northern Argentina, godwits largely go unnoticed or unobserved each fall. Do most of them make the trip in one big jump? Is there some stopover site hidden away in some part of remote South America that we don’t know about? And how do they return north each year? Do they all meet up and travel together through the central part of North America? How often do they stop once they reach North America? With the help of eBirders across the western hemisphere we might just solve the mystery!
Yellow-billed Loon Recognized in Need of Listing under the Endangered Species Act
The Yellow-billed Loon, an iconic bird of the Arctic, and the largest of all loon species, became a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act this week.
New Tool: Explore eBird Data on Maps!
eBird is excited to announce a new mapping tool that provides specific information about each record straight from the eBird database. For example, if you’re interested in finding White-winged Crossbill on an upcoming trip to Wisconsin you can pull up an eBird map for White-winged Crossbill in Wisconsin and explore it via a Google Maps interface. You also have the ability to refine the date and location to display exactly what interests you most (e.g., February or Milwaukee County). Take a minute to learn how you can get the most out of eBird's mapping tools.
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- Most Checklists Submitted for Current Month
- Kenai Peninsula -- 47
- Haines -- 42
- Anchorage -- 27
- Juneau -- 18
- North Slope -- 17
- Denali -- 16
- Valdez-Cordova -- 16
- Aleutians West -- 10
- Nome -- 6
- Matanuska-Susitna -- 6
- Fairbanks North Star -- 6
- Wrangell-Petersburg -- 4
- Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon -- 3
- Southeast Fairbanks -- 1
- Yukon-Koyukuk -- 1
