A preliminary assessment of the timing and migration of shorebirds along the northcentral Alaska Peninsula

An intensive study of post-breeding and migrating shorebirds was conducted in 1976 on a major estuary of the Alaska Peninsula at Nelson Lagoon. Twenty species were recorded, eight of them breeding on the study area. Temporal patterns of relative abundance were obtained from aerial and ground censuses. Prominent events in the seasonal southward movements were (a) congregation of non- and post-breeding birds after mid-June, (b) an early migratory peak before early August dominated by Western Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers, and Whimbrels, and (c) a later, much larger peak in late Setember and early October dominated by Dunlins, Rock Sandpipers, Bar-tailed Godwits, and Long-billed Dowitchers. In the five-month period July- November, several hundred thousand shorebirds used the study area as a stopover and/or staging area. The most abundant species was the Dunlin. The area is also critical for such species as the Bar-tailed Godwit, apparently serving as a unique concentration site for this species prior to fall migration.