Our Diverse Bird Life
The Pacific Birds region encompasses a tremendous array of habitats and multiple migratory flyways. The bird life is equally rich and diverse. Within Pacific Birds there are multiple endangered species in Hawaii, a rapidly warming Arctic, a drying Boreal Forest, and thousands of miles of coastal habitats facing sea level rise. Our partnership works on all fronts – whether it is keeping common species common or taking strategic action for an endangered or threatened species.
The State of Our Birds
The North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s State of the Birds reports provide an overview of how North America’s birds are doing. Each of the reports has a special focus.
To learn more about regional population trends, and the conservation status of bird groups or species, visit our Resources page.
Take Action for Birds
The Pacific Birds partnership works hard to help birds. Collectively our partners are learning about migrations, population dynamics, and the habitats birds need. We follow up by helping partners conserve those habitats.
But anyone can make a difference for birds by following some bird-friendly guidelines and taking some simple actions from home.
Click on the image to learn more.
Meet Some Of The Birds We Are Safeguarding
A Season of Saw-whet Owls
Photographer Fredrik Norrsell set up a nest box for Northern Saw-whet Owls in the winter of 2016. Three years later it was occupied and he was putting in long hours photographing them.
Western Bluebird
We often hear about birds with marathon migrations. Our new featured bird is the Western Bluebird, which doesn’t hold a candle to migrants traveling the world. But it is a colorful burst on landscapes across the west.
Yellow-billed Loons on the Move
Yellow-billed Loons breed in several different areas in Alaska. Where they spend the winter, and their migratory path, is still being discovered.
Olive-sided Flycatcher
The Olive-sided Flycatcher is a songbird in a dangerous decline. Check out our Featured Birds post that highlights studies about the migratory path of individual birds and the way the species responds to fire.
The Mysterious Marbled Murrelet
Few birds epitomize the wilder parts of the Pacific Northwest coastal forests more than the Marbled Murrelet. Meet this small, diving seabird that nests high in confiers and earned the name “fog larks”.
Pacific Brant Rely On Key Coastal Habitats
Brant include Atlantic and Pacific subspecies, with the range of the Pacific Brant spanning four countries and most of the Pacific Flyway. They rely on key coastal habitats.
Northern Wheatears Begin Journey to Africa
I have been looking for Northern Wheatears along Alaska’s Dalton Highway. It is a small old-world thrush that will soon be heading back to its wintering grounds in Africa. Alaska to Africa?
Meet the Nēnē, Hawaii’s Only Endemic Goose
The Nēnē, or Hawaiian Goose, is Hawaiiʻs state bird. For visitors who are not familiar this striking endemic goose, it can seem odd to find it far from wetland habitats. It spends more time on land than most other geese, and even has reduced webbing on its feet that help it navigate lava flows and other terrestrial habitats.
Way Up North: Eiders In The Chukchi Sea
Common Eiders breed on barrier islands in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska. They are the highest-risk waterbird population on Alaska’s North Slope, and are…
See the habitats our birds need to thrive.

Caspian Tern
Mick Thompson © Creative Commons