Alaska is a globally important region for billions of birds that breed across the state’s marine and Alaska is a globally important region for billions of birds that breed across the state’s marine and terrestrial environments. Birds are a significant part of Alaska’s culture and economy, and many species spend the winter outside the state, where they also play important economic and cultural roles. As a result, agencies and organizations in Alaska invest significant effort in co‑managing, monitoring, and quantifying the distribution and abundance of birds both within Alaska and beyond its borders. These efforts have provided important baselines for understanding the health and abundance of bird populations across the state. However, recent changes in the cost and logistics of bird surveys have affected our ability to accurately track bird abundance in Alaska. 

This year’s theme Next Steps for Birds focuses on the major changes affecting bird populations and the ways we monitor them, emphasizing both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Conference sessions—including plenaries, talks, posters, and group discussions—will explore four key areas: 

• Tracking the distribution and abundance of birds in Alaska
• Protecting Alaska´s long-distance migrants in the Neotropics
• Changes in funding and focus
• Enhancing public outreach on birds

Each day will begin with a plenary and continue with shorter presentations and a workshop aimed at developing concrete, actionable “next steps” for researchers, agencies, and the public. Outcomes will be synthesized across themes and shared on this website after the conference.