See you at the next Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival!

Weeks later, I’m still enjoying my time from the Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival. The fourth edition of the festival unfolded over three days in mid-June, at the Fred Ipalook Elementary School and birding sites throughout the community. The festival started in 2023 to bring together bird researchers, local residents, and visitors from Alaska and afar to celebrate birds and culture.

Within the traditional homeland of the Iñupiaq people, the Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival has deep multi-cultural character. Over thousands of years, the Iñupiaq people developed a complex culture and way of life rooted in relations with the land, waters, and wildlife. Diverse ethnic groups have joined the Utqiaġvik community and now constitute about half of the local population. Ornithologists (a.k.a. bird researchers) from across the world have flocked to Utqiaġvik every spring following the migrations of their feathered research questions. And more recently, wildlife viewing has attracted visitors in spring and summer. It adds up to many diverse languages and cultures packed into the relatively small footprint of this Arctic community.

As the youngest of Alaska’s bird festivals, Utqiaġvik offers true grassroots ambience paired with a solid program. All events are free and open to the public, thanks to many sponsors, donors, and volunteers.

“It was amazing to have many people so committed to the festival and pursuing the objective of conserving Arctic birds. It is a great way to unify people over this shared objective,” says Max Nootbaar, coordinator of this year’s festival.

Local artist Alaina Bankston designed the logo for the 2026 festival to celebrate the King Eider, qiŋalik in the Iñupiaq language, a local icon and traditional food. People painted a fun and colorful bird flock and honed their drawing skills by focusing, again, on the King Eider. Six presenters highlighted the amazing journeys of migratory birds and connections with people and cultures. Trivia, local vendors, live music, and a raffle generated lots of fun, and activities were well attended. And you’d not go hungry, as the local store of the Alaska Commercial Company kindly provided plenty of food and snacks to fuel the weekend.

Crowning the festival’s program, the birding field trips were a gem of a special kind—led by several wholehearted ornithologists working in tandem with local Iñupiaq guides Robin Monġoyak and Clinton “Bunna” Edwardson—here we experienced on-the-ground integration of Western science and traditional Indigenous knowledge. Quickly tell apart a Sanderling from a Red-necked Stint. Learn about bird names in Iñupiaq and about Sedna, keeper of Arctic marine mammals. Get the latest on satellite tracking. And follow a simple Indigenous cue: zoom out and enjoy birds as part of whole landscapes, without binoculars or a spotting scope, even if for a little while.

Utqiaġvik has become a top birding destination. Birding tourism diversifies local economies and creates businesses and jobs. A recent study published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlighted that 37% of Americans, or three in every 10 people, engage in birding. In Alaska, based on 2016 data, nearly 300,000 birdwatching visitors supported nearly 4,000 jobs. The economic impact of birding tourism in Alaska has likely grown in recent years. For example, the number of registrants to the Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival has gone from about 70 in 2023 to 200 in 2026.

Birding during the festival was outstanding in diversity and abundance. We got slams for jaegers on the first evening of the festival and for eiders over the weekend, which was unexpected, but much appreciated. Among the less common locals, the Stilt Sandpiper was strikingly beautiful in its sharpest plumage. And the tiny White-rumped Sandpiper inspired awe with its long migration east across North America, then all the way to the tip of South America. Rafts of Pacific and Red-throated loons, Northern Pintail everywhere, and a multitude of phalaropes—Red and Red-necked—stirred uncountable ponds. The ambiance was filled with an undeniable birdy energy.

Quyanaqpak, a large thank you to all co-sponsors, donors, volunteers, the birds, and everyone who made the 2026 Utqiaġvik Migratory Bird Festival such an unforgettable experience!