Arctic Birds

An adult willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus, aka willow grouse), in winter plumage, is well-camouflaged against the snowy ground as it forages in willows near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

An adult willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus, aka willow grouse), in winter plumage, is well-camouflaged against the snowy ground as it forages in willows near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

Adult horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata) resting at a cliffside seabird colony on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
Little auks (Alle alle) flying to and from their nesting colony on the scree slopes at Ingeborgfjellet in Volbukta, Bellsund, Spitsbergen. Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.
Common guillemots (Uria aalge), aka common murre, Brunnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia arra), aka thick-billed murre, amd pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) in a seabird colony.
An adult male northern pintail duck (Anas acuta) in breeding plumage stretches his wings after bathing in a marsh. This dabbling duck species breeds in the Arctic and sub-Arctic.
Ivory gulls (Pagophila eburnea) resting on sea ice in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard, above 81-degrees North.
An adult greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) forages in a marsh. This shorebird species breeds in sub-Arctic regions of Alaska and Canada.
A flock of immature pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) swimming in the Bering Sea, Russia.
An immature black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), flying over the Bering Sea, Russia.
An adult double-crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) in breeding plumage, swimming. This seabird breeds in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Alaska, and elsewhere in North America.
An adult male green-winged teal (Anas crecca) in breeding plumage, resting in a marsh. This dabbling duck is a migratory species that breeds in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions, and elsewhere.
Rubini Rock seabird colony, Franz Josef Land, Barents Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
An adult snow goose (Chen caerulescens) flying over the tundra on Wrangel Island in the East Siberian Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
A colony of cliff-nesting black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) at Raddesletta in Diskobukta, on Edgeoya in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.
A young Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus), in dark summer pelage, carrying a fledgling black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) it has just killed at a seabird colony.
An adult glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) rests on a cliff at a seabird colony on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
A flock of snow geese (Chen caerulescens) flying at dusk over the tundra on Wrangel Island in the East Siberian Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
Pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus) rest on melting ice at the base of a towering basalt cliff in Hinlopen Strait within the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway. A waterfall fed by glacial meltwater thunders down the cliff near the birds.
 A rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), in winter plumage, is well-camouflaged against the snowy ground near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.
A rufous-necked stint / red-necked stint (Calidris ruficollis) foraging on the shoreline of the Bering Sea in Russia.
An adult long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) feeding on invertebrates in a marsh. This migratory shorebird breeds in the Arctic, in coastal tundra regions of northeast Siberia, Alaska, and northwest Canada.
An adult little auk (Alle alle), aka Dovkie, at the Fuglesangen breeding colony on the island of Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.
An adult willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus, aka willow grouse), in winter plumage, is well-camouflaged against the snowy ground as it forages in willows near Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.
Adult Iceland gull (Larus glaucoides) atop an iceberg near Eqip Sermia Glacier, West Greenland.
Adult horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata) at a huge cliff-side seabird colony on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
An adult long-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus) pauses while feeding on invertebrates in a marsh. This migratory shorebird breeds in the Arctic, in coastal tundra regions of northeast Siberia, Alaska, and northwest Canada.
Nesting Br’unnich's guillemots (Uria lomvia, aka thick-billed murre), at Alkefjellet in Hinlopenstretet, Svalbard Archipelago, Norway.
A black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola, aka grey plover) foraging along the edge of a small lake on Wrangel Island in the East Siberian Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
An adult male northern pintail duck (Anas acuta) in breeding plumage bathing in a marsh. This dabbling duck species breeds in the Arcitc and sub-Arctic, and elsewhere.
An adult pelagic cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) supervises chicks at a cliff-side seabird colony on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea (Arctic Ocean), Russia.
An adult male northern shoveler (Anas clypeata) in breeding plumage, resting in a marsh. This migratory dabbling duck species breeds in the Arcic and sub-Arctic, and elsewhere.
An adult bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on its nest in Alaska. This species breeds in some Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Alaska and western Canada.
A pair of northern shovelers (Anas clypeata)  -- male in front, female behind -- in breeding plumage, swimming and feeding together. This migratory dabbling duck species breeds in the Arcic and sub-Arctic, and elsewhere.