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A Birder’s Guide to U.S. Federal Public Lands

10,000 Birds

These lands support countless birds, either year-round, as migratory stopovers, or as breeding grounds. The federal government owns about 46% of the land in these states but only about 4% of the other states (excluding Alaska). There is one gigantic outlier: Alaska. In terms of federal land, Alaska truly stands apart.

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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. With their spotted breasts, and still retaining some of the gold iridescence from their breeding plumage, it wont be long before they are off, on their way farther south. Well, they are back.

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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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Savannah Sparrows on Breeding Territory

10,000 Birds

My recent outing with Seth and Mary when we found probable breeding Bobolinks in Queens was no exception, with a couple of pairs of very confiding Savannah Sparrows singing, foraging, and generally posing for the digiscoping rig. It was nice, very nice, as the photos below hopefully demonstrate. … a.

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Flights of Passage: a book review

10,000 Birds

A simple, useful world map in outline shows approximate breeding ranges in yellow and wintering ranges in blue, and for some birds, permanent resident ranges in green. Some birds with populations on different breeding grounds move not to the same winter quarter but to far-distant ones – such as the Red-necked Phalarope.

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Federal Public Lands: Pacific Seabirds

10,000 Birds

Because these lands include a variety of different habitats and range from Alaska to Puerto Rico and Hawaii to Maine, it is difficult to make generalizations about their impact on birds. A few breed on the main Hawaiian islands, including Kilauea Point NWR on Kauai. Most of the key breeding locations in the U.S.

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Signs of Spring Migration in Costa Rica

10,000 Birds

Other warblers such as Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green are still around but based on their breeding plumage, they will be quick to leave for the north any day now. All the way to Alaska maybe? Wilson’s Plovers are in Breeding Plumage. More Birds are Singing. Where will they go?