Stikine River Shorebird Rendezvous – Meet Alaska’s spring migration of shorebirds & waterfowl during this 4 day long, weekend escape. Explore the Stikine river delta, a major stopover on the Pacific Flyway, in comfort and style aboard the Chutine Warrior. This tour provides you with an exceptional opportunity to see birds and wildlife as well as learn about the area’s natural history.

The Stikine (Stik-Heen) River is the largest mainland river bisecting the Coast Mountains. This trans-boundary river connects Southeast Alaska to interior Canada. The corridor is an ancient trading route used by Alaska Natives of the Tlingit nation. The silt laden waters of this river have created an extensive and diverse inter-tidal wet land which is one of the largest in the United States.

As many as 200,000 shorebirds stop to refuel on invertebrates nestled in the river’s mud flats. Western sandpipers make up 90% of the flock. Birds color banded from as far away as Peru and Mexico have been located on the Stikine River. Hundreds of thousands of gulls are also among the river’s avian visitors. Species present in the spring include; Bonaparte’s, Herring, Glaucous-winged, California, Mew, Ring-billed and Thayer’s gulls and Black-legged Kittiwakes. The arctic nesting, Wrangel Island, Siberian population of Lesser Snow Geese also rest and feed on the delta in impressive numbers. Up to 15,000 geese annually visit the estuary. The largest springtime concentration of American Bald eagles in the world concentrate at the mouth of the river to feed on eulachon, an oily little fish known by locals as “Hooligan”. Steller Sea Lions also feed on this small smelt-like fish. An occasional Killer Whale may also be seen feeding on stray sea lions.

The river’s corridor provides access to an interior deciduous forest. Look for breeding Common Yellowthroats, Yellow warblers and western tanagers. Raptors include Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Merlin, Red-tailed hawk, American Peregrine falcon, Northern Goshawk and Short-eared Owl.

A visit to the Tongass National forest is included in this tour. Wrangell Island and the City of Wrangell are located in the heart of the Tongass. This temperate rainforest is home to a variety of species such Varied Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco, Hairy Woodpecker, Pacific-slope flycatcher, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Northwestern Crow, Black-billed Magpie, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Fox Sparrow, and Golden-Crowned Sparrow.

A complete Wrangell bird checklist and Stikine River bird checklist can be found at: Wrangell Island Bird Check List and Stikine River Bird Checklist.