Copper River Census Area

The Global big day is tomorrow! On Saturday, May 14th, birders in Alaska will participate in this 24-hour event to celebrate birds and represent the Alaskan birding community.  By taking part in the Global Big Day, you’re also celebrating World Migratory Bird Day.

Many species are just arriving to Alaska and May as a great time to get out and enjoy the spectacular birdlife that call’s Alaska home. From a global perspective, there are a few species that Alaskan birders have the best opportunity to record for the event. Birders should try to track down these species, so they are not missed during the entire Global Big Day.

Global Alaska Targets

• • • Emperor Goose
    • McKay’s Bunting
    • Ross’s Gull
    • Ivory Gull
    • Red-faced Cormorant
    • Red-legged Kittiwake

Since the first Global Big Day in 2015, 135 species have been reported on every Global Big Day in Alaska and 26 species have only been reported on one. Regularly occurring species that have been missed on more than 50% of Global Big Days can be found below. Finding these species will be important to increasing Alaska’s total species list for the Global Big Day!

Regional Alaska Targets

• • • Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
    • Hoary Redpoll
    • Ancient Murrelet
    • Barred Owl
    • Snowy Owl
    • Sharp-tailed Grouse
    • Horned Puffin
    • Eurasian Collared-Dove
    • Thick-billed Murre
    • Northern Saw-whet Owl
    • Black Guillemot
    • Black-backed Woodpecker
    • King Eider
    • Laysan Albatross
    • Western Screech-Owl
    • White-tailed Ptarmigan

During the 2021 Global Big Day in Alaska, eBirders in Alaska recorded 191 species on 748 checklists. This was the most checklists ever recorded on a Global Big Day in Alaska and higher than the Alaska’s Global Big Day average species count of 186. Alaska’s Global Big Day record occurred in 2015 when Alaska eBirders recorded 199 species on May 9^th. Let’s try to break these records in 2022!

How to participate

• • • Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s sightings into a single massive Global Big Day list—while at the same time collecting the data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish.
    • Watch birds on 14 May: It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts. Global Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You can report what you find from anywhere in the world.
    • Enter what you see and hear in eBird: You can enter your sightings via our website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists before 17 May to be included in our initial results announcement.
    • Watch the sightings roll in: During the day, follow along with sightings from more than 170 countries in real-time on our Global Big Day page.