Eagles

As many eagles are found in Alaska [1] as in the rest of the United States combined. Bald eagles are common sights along the coasts, but with their unmistakable white heads, seven-foot wingspans, and dive-bombing, salmon-snatching performances, the thrill of watching them is not quickly lost.

The highest concentrations of bald eagles can be found on Admiralty Island [2], in Prince William Sound [3], and along the Copper River Delta near Cordova [4]. Admiralty has the largest nesting population of bald eagles in the world and is a great place to find them during the summer months. Over the winter you’ll find upward of 3,000 eagles at the famous Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve [5], and in spring a good place to look for eagles is the Stikine River [6] near Wrangell [7].

Golden eagles, found throughout the Interior [8], come without the distinctive “baldness” but are no less magnificent for their size. Plentiful around Denali Park, golden eagles perched on the tundra, standing more than three feet tall, have been mistaken for everything from grizzly cubs to adolescent hikers.

The white-tailed eagle is an Asian raptor; Attu Island in the western Aleutians is its only North American habitat.