Field Trips
Registration for fall field trips opens August 12th!
ASI offers seasonal bird banding field trips to the Creamer’s Field Migration Station in partnership with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Classes rotate through 2-3 learning stations, including a visit to ASI’s bird banding station. Students also hear from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game about migration with the ducks, geese, and cranes that use the refuge. All programs include the conservation story of Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge.
The focus of the program varies based on age/grade. We cover a variety of grade-appropriate topics, including Alaska bird adaptations and habitats, bird song, the science of migration, taxonomy, scientific methods, field research, and conservation. If you have a specific request, please let us know. Although we can accommodate students of every grade level, our field trips are best suited to students in second grade and older due to time constraints and the moderate level of walking that is required.
Requesting a Field Trip
- Registration opens on Tuesday, August 12th. We book up quickly, and for sake of fairness, we will not consider requests received before 12pm on August 12th. We consider requests on an individual basis, taking dates, group size, and other factors into account.
- We expect programs to be available August 24 – September 24. Check the online calendar to see what dates are available. Please remember that we only offer morning field trips and we must start by 10 am to have time for the full program.
- Contact us at programs@aksongbird.org to discuss availability and group size. We will update the calendar as the time slots are filled. If you see “1 class” on a specific date, there is only room for one class that day. Otherwise, we can usually accommodate 2 groups each morning. Please do your best to coordinate with other groups from your school, so that you can share buses.
- Once you have confirmed your date, please arrange transportation and confirm your estimated arrival time with us as soon as possible.
Field Trip Resources
- Our Virtual Bird Banding Field Trip summarizes our work at Creamer’s Field, introducing the refuge and several species of frequently encountered birds.
- We have a number of “Fairbanks Bird ID” videos on our YouTube channel. They are a great introduction to birdwatching for students of all ages.
- Journeys from the North is a beautiful story map that shows where our birds have been spotted again.
- The Creamer’s Field Student Activity Book is a classic resource that gives students a visual aid to identify interior Alaskan birds.