What kind of animal is that?

Part 3

Does it ever seem like there are just too many birds? They’re always flying around and chirping and making a nuisance of themselves. It’s just what they do. Then you travel to Alaska only to discover that it’s also full of birds. Back home, you probably don’t care one iota about birds, but when you’re on vacation, birds are suddenly very interesting and you want to know what they’re called.

Fortunately, everyone in Alaska knows everything there is to know about birds. We can identify them. We can spot them. We can talk to them. Birds are in our blood, so if you want to find out what type of bird you’re seeing, you simply ask a local and you’ll think you’re talking directly to Wikipedia.

Let’s get started.

“I saw a herd of puffins right by our cruise ship dock!”

No. You didn’t. Puffins are super cool looking and synonymous with Alaska but there are none in Skagway. You may see some if you travel just west of Glacier Bay, but they live closer to the coast where they feed and find mates on Tinder.

So, what is that puffin-looking bird you saw by the cruise ship dock in Skagway? It’s called a surf scoter, and it’s often mistaken for a puffin because people have bad eyesight. From a distance, their orange beak may look a little like a puffin’s beak, but when you see it up close you realize that they look more like some horribly deformed puffin. They like to hang out with hundreds or thousands of their scoter friends, so they’re still kind of cool to see even if you’re disappointed they’re not a puffin.

Did you know that a surf scoter is a duck? Of course, you didn’t. You thought it was a puffin. However, a puffin is an auk, which is a totally different thing.

Sometimes tourists think surf scoters are penguins, but there’s not much we can say about that without sounding like a jerk. Let’s just say that the nearest wild penguin lives 2,633 miles away in the Galapagos islands and leave it at that.

“That’s the biggest crow I’ve ever seen!”

Okay, so when we hear this we already know that you’re looking at a raven, not a crow. They do look somewhat alike because they’re both black, but a raven is quite a bit larger and has a bigger beak. Seeing a raven is a lot cooler than seeing a crow because crows are annoying. Ravens, however, are smart, intelligent, and carry messages to the Wall. Don’t feel bad if you misidentified a raven as a crow because it happens a lot.

“What kind of seagull is that?”

This question is impossible to answer because there is no such animal as a “seagull.” You see, “gulls” can live near the sea and far away from it. There are five species of gulls you may see around Skagway – herring gull, glaucous-winged gull, and three others I can’t remember. Heck, let’s just say you saw a seagull and leave it at that.

“Thanks for all of your help”

You’re quite welcome. We are glad that you’re interested in our Skagway birds and we hope you share this information with your friends back home. Identifying wildlife isn’t easy, but it’s just another day’s work for the Skagway local.