Shorebirds
Because of its size, northerly position and pristine habitats, Alaska provides breeding habitat for more shorebirds than any other state in the U.S. Of the 77 species of shorebirds that have been recorded in Alaska; 37 of these regularly breed here while 17 others are irregular breeders. Alaska is unique in that it hosts most of the world鈥檚 population of three shorebird species and seven subspecies. It's estimated that about 12 million shorebirds reside in Alaska, and individual species鈥 range in size from a few thousand to several million.
Habitat & Migration
Alaska has more than 50 shorebird migration staging or stopover sites that qualify as Western Hemisphere or East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Reserve Network sites. At 10 of these sites, concentrations exceed 1 million birds, with sites like the Copper River Delta hosting between five and eight million shorebirds each spring, the world鈥檚 largest aggregations of shorebirds are thought to occur on the Copper River Delta. While the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta supports an estimated 7 million shorebirds, including the majority of six North American populations, including Pacific Golden-Plovers, Black Turnstones, Western Sandpipers, Dunlin, Bar-tailed Godwit, and the western population of a Whimbrel subspecies.
This vast network of migration sites hosts the arrival and exodus of shorebirds to and from Alaska during each spring and fall. Only 6 of the 43 taxa that regularly occur in Alaska winter there. But of these 43 regularly occurring taxa, some portion of the populations of 38 winter outside the U.S. while entire populations of 18 others migrate to Central and South America or East Asia-Australasia and South Pacific countries (Oceania). Alaska's shorebirds are not only a national resource; but they also provide international links to over 40 countries distributed on five continents.
