The first record for St. Paul Island, Alaska, and North America, this species is a medium-distance migrant from central Asia that was an unexpected visitor to the region. The timing of this record is unexpected but not without precedent and likely this individual arrived in the region as a fall wanderer and continued to move […]
Category: Birds of St. Paul Island
Snowy Owl
A regular visitor during the winter and spring, this species is found only sporadically during the summer and rarely in the fall. It is one of the few bird species found most reliably on St. George Island in the Pribilofs, owing to that island’s population of Brown Lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus), which is a major food […]
Short-eared Owl
A regular spring migrant best found from May 20th-June 5th, this species is much rarer at other seasons in the Pribilofs. Spring records can occur from the beginning of May through mid-June, while most summer records are from early in the season and in some cases are lingering birds from the spring period. This species […]
Boreal Owl
Perhaps the most recorded bird species in the Pribilofs that has been seen by the fewest number of people in recent years, there are at least nine records of this species from the islands (all from St. Paul Island), with most of them from the 1900s and 1910s. The known records come from nearly the […]
Northern Saw-whet Owl
A small migrant owl, this species has been located once in the Pribilofs (St. Paul Island) during late fall and future records are quite unlikely. It is most likely to occur in late fall or early winter or again in late winter during their movement periods; however, coverage is very limited at these times. […]
Northern Boobook
The only sighting of this species is from St. Paul Island in the early fall (late August/early September). Future records are highly unlikely, and if they do occur the best time is unknown, though presumably it is fall. There remain only two records of this species for North America and at the time of those […]
Belted Kingfisher
This species has only been found approximately nine times in the Pribilofs during the fall season from mid-August to mid-September, which coincides with their retreat from much of their summer breeding range in Alaska. This is likely the only period in which this species will be found on the islands in the future. […]
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The only record from the Pribilofs is from early May. Of the Alaskan records, there are a grouping of sightings during May and another grouping of sightings in the fall during late September and October. Further records are likely to appear during one of these periods. […]
Glaucous Gull
This is a common to abundant, winter resident that can be found regularly in the spring and fall, while a few linger into the summer in some years. In most years, the bulk of wintering birds have left the Pribilofs by May 25th with smaller numbers continuing until June 10th and only a few lingering […]
Aleutian Tern
This species has been found very sparingly on its passage between Alaska and its wintering grounds in the south Pacific. The majority of records come from the springtime where they are spread over a large period of time though the second half of May, which is likely the most productive time to locate this species […]