The Anchorage Bird Checklist
The most current Anchorage Bird Checklist was produced in 2014 by Aaron Bowman and Audubon Alaska. It lists 258 species which are divided into 164 regularly occurring species and 94 Casual/Accidental species.
In addition, Horned Lark and Mountain Bluebird were inadvertently left off the checklist.
Since 2014, Five new documented “First Anchorage Records” have been added to the list: Nashville Warbler, Purple Finch, Cassin’s Finch, Eurasian Collared Dove, and a photographed Common Nighthawk. Undocumented (un-photographed but well witnessed) new species include Rhinoceros Auklet, Buller’s Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Red-throated Pipit, and Smew. This brings the current documented Anchorage total to 265 species.
The Anchorage Checklist DOES include the Rock Pigeon which is not included on the official Alaska Checklist. Four other “non-countable” introduced species do occur in Anchorage: Chukar, Ruffed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasant, and Northern Bobwhite.
Current records show the Top Thirteen Anchorage Listers are: (1) Thede Tobish 240; (2) R. L. Buzz Scher 235; (3) Dave DeLap 233; (4) Aaron Bowman 214; (5) Pat Pourchot 206; (5) Dick Prentki 206; (5) Enric Fernandez 206; (8) W. Keys 204; (9) Peter Scully 197; (10) Tom Evans 194; (10) Keith Confer 194; (10) Tim Stevenson 194. (13) Chris Maack 189;
The Complete Alaska Checklist
The most current Checklist of Alaska Birds was last updated on January 1, 2015 and included 505 naturally-occuring species. Several new species have been added since that date. The Rock Pigeon does NOT occur on the Alaska List because is not “naturally occurring.
Current records show that David Sonneborn has seen 419 of those species, and Thede Tobish has seen 397.
As of October 2015, 245 species, representing 40 families, have been recorded in the Municipality of Anchorage, excluding unsubstantiated reports or species of suspect origin.
The Wings Over Alaska Checklist
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game “Wings Over Alaska” bird viewing program’s latest checklist was last updated in 2012. It lists only 471 Species, but is presented in a very compact format for easy viewing of your list.
Local Birding Checklists
- Anchorage
- Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge
- Palmer Hay Flats
Other Alaska Birding Checklists
- Checklist of Alaska Birds 22nd Edition – 2016 (statewide, updated annually by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks)
- Wings Over Alaska
- Alaska Peninsula (2002)
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (2010)
- Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (Seward Peninsula)
- Copper River Basin and Surrounding Areas
- Dalton Highway
- Fairbanks (2006)
- Fort Wainwright (2008)
- Glacier Bay (2013)
- Innoko National Wildlife Refuge (McGrath, Alaska)
- Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson
- Juneau (2007)
- Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge (2013)
- Kachemak Bay (Homer, Alaska)
- Kenai Fjords National Park (2007)
- Ketchikan (2009)
- Kodiak
- Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge (2010)
- Nome
- Seward (1997)
- Skagway (2010)
- Tanana Lakes Recreation Area
- Unalaska (Dutch Harbor, Alaska) (2012)
- Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (2006)
- Yakutat
- Yukon Delta (Western Alaska (2008)