In Alaska, a dedicated and fortunate birdwatcher might spot an elusive bluethroat north of the Brooks Range, catch a glimpse of a harlequin duck zipping along an interior river, come across all four species of eider in Utqiavik, or listen to the sounds of tens of thousands of feeding shorebirds in the Copper River Delta.
Birdwatching in Alaska as a tourist spot
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Each year, thousands of birdwatchers go to Alaska in search of uncommon and difficult-to-find species to cross off their Big Year lists, as per ScienceDaily.
By doing this, they give the economy a much-needed boost and encourage ecosystem preservation.
According to a recent study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Audubon Alaska, in 2016 the state welcomed approximately 300,000 bird enthusiasts who spent $378 million there.
Around 4,300 people were employed in birdwatching in Alaska in that year, which is comparable to the numbers in the mining and telecommunications sectors, but not necessarily in terms of total earnings for employees.
Birders in Alaska spent more money, stayed longer, and visited more off-the-beaten-path areas of the state than other visitors did.
Birdwatchers frequently traveled in smaller groups and took part in more activities than other nonbirders, such as guided tours, as a result of their need for discretion and insider knowledge of the best birding locations.
Tobias Schwoerer, the study's principal investigator and an economist at the UAF International Arctic Research Center, said that when tourists to Alaska spend money to see endangered species for which their environment is a crucial habitat on a global scale, there is an incentive to maintain high habitat standards for birds.
The study found that the portion of the Alaskan tourist sector unrelated to huge ships, rail systems, or bus cruise lines is frequently disregarded and understudied.
According to Schwoerer, there is also untapped potential for creating small specialty ecotourism firms, particularly in rural areas that are home to highly sought-after bird species.
Furthermore, independent travelers are more likely to fly to the Pribilof Islands, visit the Aleutian Islands to view a rare species they can't locate anywhere else, or arrange a tour with a tiny operator who runs Sprinter vans from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.
Visitors who went off the beaten tourist trail and showed up with binoculars in hand at the Haines Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, where Natalie Dawson led birding treks, served as the study's inspiration.
Thanks to its variety of habitats, placement along migratory routes, and limitless vast regions, Alaska is a birder's heaven, as per the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
In search of breeding, overwintering, resting, and refueling habitats, almost 500 bird species inhabit or transit through the Great Land, from the Arctic pack ice to the Southeast Asian jungles to the windswept Aleutian Islands.
Alaska's extensive wetlands, lakes, and rivers, as well as its more than 40,000 kilometers of coastline, are essential to wading birds, shorebirds, and waterfowl.
Its extensive woodlands provide a haven for songbirds, both migratory and local, as well as woodpeckers and raptors.
Exotic Asian "stray" birds that deviate from their intended path frequently end up in Alaska and on the life lists of ecstatic bird watchers.
About 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Unalaska is the storied seal islands of the Bering Sea.
In acknowledgment of the significance of its seabird breeding places on a worldwide scale, they were included in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge in 1984.
Three million or more large seabird colonies, including thick-billed murres, common murres, least auklets, parrot auklets, horned puffins, tufted puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, and the majority of red-legged kittiwake populations worldwide, breed on the islands.
Birds from as far away as Siberia and Argentina have been observed on the islands, representing over 220 different species.
One of the biggest seabird colonies in the northern hemisphere is found on the St. George cliffs. There are airports, tourist attractions, and some roads in St. Paul and St. George.
Both migratory birds from all over the world and hardy local species may be found at Denali National Park and Preserve.
As migrating birds return to Denali in the spring, there is a marked increase in quantity.
Visitors who enjoy birdwatching in the summer may see these migrating species in a breathtakingly beautiful northern setting.
While birding in the winter is less abundant than in the summer, it may still be rewarding because of pine grosbeaks, mixed ptarmigan flocks, and possibly even a gyrfalcon or northern goshawk.
Of the 167 bird species found in Denali, 149 are usually seen there, and 119 are thought to nest there.
