Birds of Chignik Lake

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

Section 2: Grebes, Petrel, Cormorants, Heron

Section 3: Swans, Geese and Ducks

Sidebar: Ice Changes Everything – Wintertime on the Frozen Chignik

Sidebar: Nature Watching & Nest Finding: an Exercise in Mindfulness

Section 4: Hawks, Eagles and Falcons

Section 6: Upland Game Birds

Willow Ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus

Section 7: Shorebirds, Gulls, Terns and Alcids

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:

Alaska Peninsula and Becharof National Wildlife Refuge Bird List (U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service) (online)

Aniakchak National National Monument and Preserve Species List (online)

Audubon Guide to North American Birds (online)

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

We thought Cutterlight fans might be interested in seeing a short (three minute) video that captures life in this small coastal Alaska town – as well as the community’s commitment to sustainable energy.

Of interest to us is that with a population of just over 2,000 inhabitants, Cordova is nearly identical in size to Henry Thoreau’s Concord, Massachusetts of 1860. The similarities between the two towns don’t end with size. With no roads connecting Cordova to the world beyond, it requires intention to reach our community. This relative isolation creates a balance of independence and tight-knittedness that formerly marked most U.S. small towns.

With Copper River salmon runs still strong enough to fuel a fairly healthy economy, most of our electricity generated from local rivers that continue to flow with nearly pristine purity, full of spawning salmon each year, and a downtown replete with library, art gallery, hardware store, grocer and other shops and restaurants within pleasant walking distance, we seem to have arrived in Cordova at its belle epoch.

Life here is… serene. Police and emergency sirens are few and far between; common courtesies are many. Sidewalks are clean and it is uncommon to encounter a line at any of our shops or the post office. So many of the things that “made America great” – things we remember from our youths of decades past – still thrive in this community where people of European, Asian, Native American and other heritages mix together seamlessly. Although March nights still get cold, already the afternoon sun warms our deck into the 70s so that outdoors reading and dining are thoroughly comfortable. We’ve had hummingbirds at our feeders all winter long…

It would seem that a crystal ball isn’t required to see that in the not-so-distant future, people will leave places that are either too hot, too dry (Colorado is currently experiencing a nearly state-wide water shortage), or too vulnerable to coastal flooding. Calling it a “hoax” won’t make it go away, and I think we all know what is meant by “it.”

So where will these people go? Alaska is warming at a faster rate than places further south. Climate models predict that by 2050, average temperatures up here will be eight degrees warmer. With slightly fewer than three-quarters of a million residents and enough land to fit Texas, California and Montana with room to spare…

CutterLight

living well off the beaten path