7. Migration
Perhaps some of you have
seen maps showing bird migration routes from South America to western areas
deep into Alaska’s Interior. One of these major bird highways lies to the west
of the St. Elias, Wrangell and Chugach Mountains. In the spring and fall,
over the Eagle River community, one can see and hear flocks of migrating birds.
There are sandhill cranes, brant, Canada geese, snow geese, trumpeter swans, ducks
and numerous other water fowl. Their antics and formations are enjoyable to
watch.
The migrating birds are here again; brant, geese, and swan.
They soon will be nesting in marshes green, singing in the
dawn.
We’re like the brant, we’re like the swan; we like to sing
all day.
We love to sing a song of spring.
Let’s sing all day.
The Alaska Bird Observatory's Boreal Forest Songbirds of Alaska
Teaching
Unit and Activity Book.
Canada geese
Cackling geese
Greater white-fronted geese
Northern pintails
American wigeons
Sandhill cranes
Trumpeter swans
American robins
Ruffed grouse
American tree sparrows
Mew gulls
Herring gulls
Northern harriers
Kestrels
Hawks (mostly red-tailed)
Mountain bluebirds
Sharp-tailed grouse
Golden eagles
Gyrfalcons
Robins
Thrushes
Juncos
Townsend’s solitaire
Green-winged teal duck
Yellow-rumped warblers,
Hermit thrush
Wilson’s snipe
Lesser yellowlegs
Merlin
Tree swallows
Violet-green swallows
Northern shovelers
Northern pintails
Common goldeneye
Scup
Canvasbacks
Northern Shovelers,
Lesser yellowlegs
Northern harrier
Tree swallows
Blue-winged teal
Green-winged teal
Canvasbacks
Common and barrow’s pintails
Bonaparte’s gulls
Northern Goshawk
Bufflehead
Lesser Yellowlegs
Tundra swans
Dark-eyed juncos
American robins
Yellow-rumped warblers
Ruby-crowned kinglets.
Downy woodpecker
