Birding the Aleutian Islands (Attu), Alaska

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Serious birders consider a trip to these isolated Aleutian Islands in Alaska the ultimate birding expedition. The main island for birders is Attu, the westernmost island of the Aleutians, nearly 2000 miles west of Anchorage. The island yields some of North Americas most rarest birds. Transportation around the island is mainly on mountain bikes. Birders should get some practice on mountain bikes prior to your visit. Attu is one of the settings for the 2011 film The Big Year with Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson as avid birdwatchers, who take a trip to the island for exclusive birdwatching. Some of the birds you might observe are: Emperor goose Gray-crowned rosy-finch Harlequin duck Kittliz’s murrelet Least auklet Red-faced cormorant Red-legged kittiwake Snow bunting Steller’s eider Tufted puffin The best time to go for birding is late May and June. The weather in the Aleutian islands are typically cloudy, rainy, and foggy. High winds occur occasionally. Five or six days a week are likely to be rainy, and there are only about eight or ten clear days a year. The rest of the time, even if rain is not falling, fog of varying density is the rule rather than the exception. There are 39–49 inches (990–1,200 mm) of annual rainfall & other precipitation, with the heaviest rains in the autumn and early winter.

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