Alaska

Grab your binoculars and your birding buddies and take the Challenge! Migration is already starting in some places, even as snow still blankets Alaska—so let the games begin! Arctic-nesting birds have ranges that reach all 50 states and 6 continents, so the migrating birds you see in your backyard or favorite birding spot could be headed to the Arctic for the summer. What better way to celebrate spring and the birds that connect all of us than participating in the Great American Arctic Birding Challenge!

Get together a team of up to six birders and scour the landscape March 1–June 1 to find as many of the birds as possible on the Great American Arctic Birding Challenge checklist. Submit your checklist by June 1 for prizes and a chance at the 2013 title.

Did we mention there are prizes? There is even a bonus prize if you spot a Snowy Owl, since they seem to be wandering far and wide this year.

For details on rules, prizes, and printer-friendly versions of the checklist and contest flyer, visit Audubon Alaska’s Great American Arctic Birding Challenge webpage. Contact Beth Peluso, Audubon Alaska, at bpeluso@audubon.org, if you have questions.