Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska
National Park Service. 2026. Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska. National Park Service. Anchorage, AK. U.S.A.
NPS conducts aerial Yellow-billed Loon surveys biennially (every odd year) in late June in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR). The survey data allow the NPS to assess population occupancy, density and distribution of loons. These long-lived and large birds are easily spotted from the air and return to the same breeding lakes each year, making them ideal for monitoring population trends in a freshwater ecosystem (Flamme et al., 2018). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designed specific lake-circling methods and established random plots for aerial surveys to optimize detection of Yellow-billed Loons in their nesting habitats. Two pilot-observers teams in tandem fixed-wing aircraft conduct repeat surveys of 24 plots scattered across BELA and CAKR. Flights are conducted at an altitude of less than 500 feet and all five species of loons encountered (Yellow-billed, Common, Red-throated, Pacific and Arctic) and their nests are recorded. This dataset makes available the information collected as part of the Yellow-billed loon monitoring program of the National Park Service in Western Alaska from 2013 through 2023. Data column definitions: Column DataType ColumnDescription Year int Year. Park varchar Park code. Plot int Plot number. Lake varchar Lake identifier. Date datetime Observation date. Species varchar Species code. ScientificName varchar Scientific name CommonName varchar Common name Count int Count. IsNest bit Was a nest observed. Bit. 1=True, 0=False. IsPair bit Was a nesting pair observed. Bit. 1=True, 0=False. Chicks int Number of chicks observed. Eggs int Number of eggs observed. Location varchar Location of the observed loons. Peninsula, Shoreline, or Island Activity varchar Activity of the observed loons. By Nest. On Nest, Flushed. SurveyType varchar Survey type. Some surveys consisted of occupancy and productivity surveys on different dates. IsIncidentalObservation bit Was the observation opportunistic (made on-the-fly and outside of a plot and standard observing routine)? 0=False. 1=True. Latitude float Latitude. WGS1984 Geographic Coordinate System. Longitude float Longitude. WGS1984 Geographic Coordinate System. Notes varchar Notes. TailNumber varchar Tail number. Aircraft varchar Aircraft. CertificationLevel varchar Certification level. Raw, Provisional or Certified. ObservationID int ObservationID. Unique identifier.
- Type
- Geospatial Dataset
- Authors
- National Park Service
- Date of Issue
- 2026-01-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BELA , CAKR
- Keywords
- alaska, Arctic Loon, bering land bridge, cape krusenstern, Common Loon, Gavia adamsii, Gavia arctica, Gavia immer, Gavia pacifica, Gavia stellata, loon, monitoring, nest, Pacific Loon, Red-throated Loon, Yellow-billed Loon
- License
- Public Domain
Other versions
- Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska, 2005 - 2023
- Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska, 2011 - 2023
- Certified Dataset: Loons Monitoring in Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (BELA) and Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska