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What is the State Bird of Alaska?

10,000 Birds

In 1955 – before Alaska was a state – the Territory’s leaders in charge of drafting a constitution allowed schoolchildren to choose what would eventually become the state bird. The Willow Ptarmigan was officially designated in 1960, when Alaska entered the union.

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North from Alaska: The Surfbirds return to Mexico

10,000 Birds

It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that I was writing about the Surfbirds, and the long trip to their Alaska breeding grounds. Well, they are back. This last week we took a trip over to the Pacific side of the Baja to see who had arrived back from their summer up north.

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Wolf Killng Begins in Alaska

Critter News

The Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game hopes to kill up to 328 wolves in order to protect caribou calves. The LA Times Greenspace blog has the story.

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Best Bird of the Weekend (First of September 2021)

10,000 Birds

I spent the last week in Alaska chasing all kinds of excitement but finding fewer birds than I’d hoped. From Creamer’s Field to the University of Alaska campus, these big, gregarious birds bugle their presence proudly as they pass through town. Millions of birds around the world are making moves. Will you move with them?

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The ABA Area Big Year Record is Tied

10,000 Birds

With a Rustic Bunting in Homer, Alaska, Neil Hayward has tied Sandy Komito’s American Birding Assocation area big year record of 745 (+3) species. That is a lot of birds in what is essentially Alaska, Canada, and the lower 48 states in one year. But whats with the (+3)? That’s where things get kind of fun.

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My 10 Favorite Birds of Shanghai

10,000 Birds

Fish and Wildlife Service/Alaska, Public Domain, [link] Source Given that Shanghai has a population that is about as large as that of the 10 biggest cities in the US combined, it may sound surprising that it is actually a decent place for birders. Then again, it is so mostly because it is on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway.

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Beak Deformities

10,000 Birds

The Alaska Science Center has been working with chickadees for many years, attempting to solve the problem. They began work in 1999, concentrating on the Black-Capped Chickadees of Alaska. Although the Alaska Science Center concentrates on chickadees, they also study deformity cases in crows, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and jays.

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