Birding spots · Alaska

Best Birding Spots in North Slope Borough, Alaska

Cape Smyth leads North Slope Borough's birding spots with 77 species reported, best in summer. 29 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Spring	Summer	Fall
Cape Smyth	77	363	27	71	16
Imikpuk Lake	69	402	15	62	23
North Salt Lagoon	68	500	6	58	41
Middle Salt Lagoon	64	260	2	63	1
Toolik Lake	56	192	36	49	5
Nerravak Lagoon	53	267	2	53	0
South Salt Lagoon	53	184	24	50	4
James Dalton Highway Corridor	53	170	16	52	7
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge	52	522	0	52	0
South Salt Lagoon (Middle Salt Lagoon)	51	178	9	51	0
Toolik Lake (east)	47	103	2	44	6
South Salt Lagoon (south)	43	129	15	39	0
South Salt Lagoon (northeast)	43	61	4	38	5
Isatkoak Lagoon	42	224	20	41	3
Footprint Lake	41	76	0	41	0
Middle Salt Lagoon (Beaded Creek)	41	68	0	41	0
Nuwuk Lake	36	67	0	31	11
Galbraith Lake Area of Critical Environmental Concern	31	78	0	31	0
Utqiaġvik	13	58	0	9	6
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik	72	483	29	69	3
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (northwest)	69	384	16	68	2
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (northwest 2)	61	165	17	57	1
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (southeast)	58	281	19	58	4
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (Niksirok Point)	52	152	0	48	17
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (Cape Smyth)	49	149	9	44	4
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (southeast)	45	150	9	44	0
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (northwest 3)	45	117	6	43	5
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (Beaded Creek)	44	105	15	43	0
Birding spot near Utqiaġvik (south)	40	79	10	38	0