Birds of Chignik Lake
Table of Contents
As articles are published, readers will be able to click the below titles to go directly to them.
I. Introduction: The Chigniks – Avian Diversity and Change in a Remote, Unique Environment
II. List of Birds by Common Name (with scientific name), American Ornithologists’ Union Order
Section 1: Loons of Chignik
Sidebar: The Loons of The Lake
- Red-throated Loon Gavia stellata
- Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica
- Common Loon Gavia immer
- Yellow-billed Loon Gavia adamsii
Section 2: Grebes, Petrel, Cormorants, Heron
- Red-necked Grebe Podiceps grisegena
- Pied-bill Grebe Podilymbus podiceps
- Fork-tailed Storm Petrel Oceanodroma furcata
- Pelagic Cormorant Phalacrocorax pelagicus
- Red-faced Cormorant Phalacrocorax urile
- Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritius
- Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias
Section 3: Swans, Geese and Ducks
Sidebar: Ice Changes Everything – Wintertime on the Frozen Chignik
- Tundra Swan Cygnus columbianus
- Emperor Goose Anser canagicus
- Cackling Goose (Aleutian form) Branta hutchinsii
- Brant Branta bernicla
- Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
- Northern Pintail Anas acuta
- Northern Shoveler, Spatula clypeata
- American Wigeon Mareca americana
- Green-winged Teal Anas crecca
- Greater Scaup Aythya marila
- Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris
- Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula
- Canvasback Aythya valisineria
- Redhead Aythya americana
- Harlequin Duck Histrionicus histrionicus
- Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
- Steller’s Eider Polysticta stelleri
- Black Scoter Melanitta americana
- White-winged Scoter Melanitta fusca
- Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula
- Barrow’s Goldeneye Bucephala islandica
- Bufflehead Bucephala albeola
- Common Merganser Mergus merganser
- Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
Sidebar: Nature Watching & Nest Finding: an Exercise in Mindfulness
Section 4: Hawks, Eagles and Falcons
- Northern Harrier Circus hudsonius
- Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus
- Rough-legged Hawk Buteo lagopus
- Bald Eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus
- Merlin Falco columbarius
- Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus
- Gyrfalcon, Falco rusticolus
Section 6: Upland Game Birds
Section 7: Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Alcids
- Sandhill Crane Grus canadensis
- Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus
- Black Oystercatcher Haematopus Bachman
- Greater Yellowlegs Tringa melanoleuca
- Spotted Redshank Tringa erythropis
- Wandering Tattler Tringa incana
- Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres
- Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala
- Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri
- Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla
- Short-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus
- Wilson’s Snipe Gallinago delicata
- Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla
- Bonaparte’s Gull Larus philadelphia
- Mew Gull Larus canus
- Glaucus-winged Gull Larus glaucescens
- Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea
- Common Murre Uria aalge
- Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba
- Marbled Murrelet Brachyramphus marmoratus
- Kittlitz’s Murrelet Brachyramphus brevirostris
- Horned Puffin Fratercula corniculata
Section 8: Owls
- Great Horned Owl Bubo virginianus
- Northern Saw-whet Owl Aegolius acadicus
Section 9: Kingfisher, Woodpecker, Shrike
- Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon
- Downy Woodpecker Picoides pubescens
- Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
- Northern Shrike Lanius excubitor
Section 10: Corvids
- Black-billed Magpie Pica hudsonia
- Common Raven Corvus Corax
Section 11: Swallows
- Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor
- Violet-green Swallow Tachycineta thalassina
- Bank Swallow Riparia riparia
Section 12: Birds of White Spruce Grove
- Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atricapilla
- Red-breasted Nuthatch Sitta canadensis
- Pacific Wren Troglodytes pacificus
- American Dipper Cinclus mexicanus
- Golden-crowned Kinglet Regulus satrapa
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula
- American Robin Turdus migratorius
- Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus
- Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus
- ?American Pipit Anthus rubescens
- Orange-crowned Warbler Vermivora celata
- Yellow Warbler Dendroica petechia
- Wilson’s Warbler Wilsonia pusilla
- American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea
- Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
- Fox Sparrow (Sooty) Passerella iliaca
- Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
- Lincoln’s Sparrow Melospiza lincolnii
- Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis (Species Overview)
- Slate-Colored form
- White-winged form
- Oregon form
- Golden-crowned Sparrow Zonotrichia atricapilla
- White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis
- Snow Bunting Plectrophenax nivalis
- Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra
- White-winged Crossbill Loxia leucoptera
- Pine Siskin Carduelis pinus
- Common Redpoll Carduelis flammea
- Xanthochromic Common Redpoll rarity
- Hoary Redpoll Carduelis hornemanni
- Pine Grosbeak Pinicola enucleator
Appendix:
Alphabetical Listing of Chignik Birds by Common Name
Chignik Species Checklist
References:
Aniakchak National National Monument and Preserve Species List (online)
Audubon Guide to North American Birds (online)
Birds of America, editor-in-chief T. Gilbert Pearson. Garden City Books, Garden City, New York, ©1936
Birds of the Chignik River Drainage, 1960-63, David Narver, University of Washington, July 1968
Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All About Birds (online)
Siblley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, The, written & illustrated by David Allen Sibley, 2003
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