<rroiise is found throuojliout central 

 Alaska from the north fork of the 

 Kuskokwini to the eastern border. 



BIRDS OF PREY 



Eagles, hawks, and owls — Larg- 

 est and most conspicuous of 

 Alaska's birds of prey is the bald 

 eagle, common along the rugged 

 coast line. The golden eagle in- 

 habits the inland mountains. Fre- 

 quenter of the northern tundra are 

 the short-eared owl, the snowy owl, 

 the peregrine falcon, the gyrfalcon, 

 and the rough-legged hawk. The 

 mountains, foothills, and forested 

 regions are the homes of the great 

 gray owl, the horned owl, Richard- 

 son's owl, the pygmy owl, and the 

 screech owl. In much of the same 

 range live the sparrow hawk, the 

 pigeon hawk, Swainson's hawk, and 

 the osprey. 



SONG BIRDS 



Although Alaska has few song 

 birds in winter, summer brings 

 great numbers from both the east- 

 ern and western United States. 

 Willow, alder, and bog birch pro- 

 vide habitat at the northern limits 

 of the breeding range for many 

 kinds. Most common of the song 

 birds is the robin. Other common 

 birds are thrushes, warblers, spar- 

 rows, swallows, wrens, kinglets, 

 crossbills, chickadees, flycatchers, 

 finches, juncos, redpolls, waxwings, 

 woodpeckers, hummingbirds, snow 

 buntings, longspurs, pine gros- 

 beaks, blackbirds, pipits, and sis- 

 kins. The sprightly water ouzel, 



or dipper, is a common sight along 

 the mountain streams. Am(mg the 

 larger distinctive birds are the mag- 

 pie, the Alaska jay, and the darker- 

 blue Steller's jay, the northern 

 shrike, and the kingfisher. The 

 northern raven and the northwest 

 crow are common scavengers about 

 the villages. 



Several kinds of birds migrate to 

 Alaska from Asia by way of the 

 Aleutian Islands and Bering Strait. 

 In April or May, the first passerine, 

 or bird of perching habits, to return 

 to interior Alaska from the south 

 is the beautiful brown and white 

 snow bunting. The friendly long- 

 spur arrives soon after, and then 

 comes a winged host of swallows, 

 robins, shy hermit and varied 

 thrushes, tiny kinglets, varicolored 

 warblers, many kinds of sparrows, 

 flycatchers, dippers, and loud- 

 mouthed kingfishers. 



Energized by continuous day- 

 light, the short breeding season in 

 the Arctic region is marked by con- 

 stant watching and incessant scold- 

 ing in defense of nest and young. 

 In southeastern Alaska, warm 

 ocean currents sweep against the 

 coast and moderate the climate, 

 making vegetation almost subtrop- 

 ical and creating ideal homes for 

 certain song birds. When summer 

 ends, the adult birds and their 

 young begin their southward mi- 

 gration, leaving behind the year- 

 round residents — jays, ravens, 

 woodpeckers, pine grosbeaks, chick- 

 adees, siskins, waxwings, and red- 

 polls. 



