Selawik National Wildlife Refuge

Selawik National Wildlife Refuge For official information about Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, go to http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Selawik.
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For more about the US Fish and Wildlife service go to www.fws.gov This page contains information from Selawik National Wildlife Refuge in Northwest Alaska, which is managed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and is located within the homelands of the Iñupiat people. Selawik National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1980 to conserve the Western Arctic caribou herd, waterfowl, shorebirds, other m

igratory birds, salmon, and sheefish; to provide for continued subsistence uses; to fulfill treaty obligations; and to ensure necessary water quality and quantity.

A big THANK YOU to all those who joined us on our bird watching tours this weekend! 🫶🫶 We enjoyed meeting you and sharin...
06/01/2026

A big THANK YOU to all those who joined us on our bird watching tours this weekend!
🫶🫶 We enjoyed meeting you and sharing our love of birding.
🪿In total we saw over 45 different bird species between the 3 tours, including 17 different types of shorebirds. A great way to kick off the summer!

Photo of birding group goofing around with binoculars by B. Sweeney/USFWS

Looking for something to do this weekend in Kotzebue? Come birding with us! 🦢Three times to choose from:Friday 5:30-7:30...
05/29/2026

Looking for something to do this weekend in Kotzebue? Come birding with us! 🦢
Three times to choose from:
Friday 5:30-7:30 pm
Saturday 9:30-11:30 am
Saturday 3:30-5:30 pm
Dress warmly and meet at the NPS Heritage Center on Third Avenue. We'll provide the transportation, binocs and scopes, birding info and refreshments ☕🍫

photo: two birders on Front Street in Kotzebue, USFWS

It's time for our annual birdwatching tours!Join us this weekend for a trip around the loop road with stops at multiple...
05/27/2026

It's time for our annual birdwatching tours!
Join us this weekend for a trip around the loop road with stops at multiple birding locations. We provide the info, snacks and drinks, binocs and spotting scopes - even a guest expert birder from Friends of Alaska National Wildlife Refuges!
Dress warmly, wear your boots, and plan for about a 2-hour event.
🦢Three tours to choose from: 🦢
Friday 5/29 from 5:30-7:30 pm
Saturday 5/30 from 9:30-11:30 am
OR Sat. from 3:30-5:30 pm
🦢 Kids welcome with adult supervision 🦢

Duck..duck..plane? No, that's a duck *counting* plane!🦆🛩️A team from the USFWS Migratory Birds program will be conductin...
05/27/2026

Duck..duck..plane? No, that's a duck *counting* plane!
🦆🛩️
A team from the USFWS Migratory Birds program will be conducting an aerial waterfowl survey in the coming days. You may see an amphibious float plane (one with floats and wheels), flying in straight-line count patterns near Selawik, Noorvik, Cape Espenberg and Ivik. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns and we will share them with the survey team.

flyer provided by USFWS Migratory Birds team

CAPTION CONTEST WINNER: "Singing Aariigaa in Iñupiaq"Congratulations Trisha Conwell - and thank you all for the suggesti...
05/26/2026

CAPTION CONTEST WINNER: "Singing Aariigaa in Iñupiaq"
Congratulations Trisha Conwell - and thank you all for the suggestions!

Did you know that a nauyasugruk (glaucous gull), like a goat, will eat almost *anything*? In polite, scientific terms they would be described as opportunistic omnivores.

Photo by Gretchen Mominee/USFWS

The next fish on the menu in Kotzebue will be uqsruqtuuq (Pacific herring). 🎣Once the ice goes out in front of town,...
05/22/2026

The next fish on the menu in Kotzebue will be uqsruqtuuq (Pacific herring).
🎣Once the ice goes out in front of town, anglers will emerge with rods and reels - or cast nets - in pursuit of these oily little fish with delicious roe. Herring may be pickled, baked, or fried and are rich in Vitamin D.
🦭 Uqsruqtuuq are an important food source for sheefish and seals, seabirds, whales and more.
photo of an uqsruqtuuq in hand at Kachemak Bay by Katrina Liebich/USFWS.

Boating season has started on the Selawik! The ice went out last night, May 20-21.photo of Selawik River sunrise courtes...
05/22/2026

Boating season has started on the Selawik! The ice went out last night, May 20-21.

photo of Selawik River sunrise courtesy Clyde Ramoth

🛩️ Notice of Aerial Survey 🛩️The Alaska Department of Fish & Game will be collecting information on moose calving, May 2...
05/21/2026

🛩️ Notice of Aerial Survey 🛩️
The Alaska Department of Fish & Game will be collecting information on moose calving, May 23-June 5. You may see a red and white supercub flying at low altitude during this survey. Contact ADFG in Kotzebue if you have any questions or concerns.

attached flyer provided by ADFG.

It's a bee-utiful day to celebrate World Bee Day!🐝 Bees are VIPs: very important pollinators. Worldwide, bees play a par...
05/20/2026

It's a bee-utiful day to celebrate World Bee Day!
🐝 Bees are VIPs: very important pollinators. Worldwide, bees play a part in 1 of every 3 bites of food people eat. Like aqpiks? Thank a bee!
🐝Learn more about wild bumblebees found in Selawik Refuge and bee research across Alaska: https://www.fws.gov/project/bee-surveys-selawik-refuge
photo of Bombus jonellus or heath bumblebee, courtesy Nigel Jones/flickrCC

🎶 "Blackbird, fly... You were only waiting for this moment to arise" 🎶 - The Beatles 🐦‍⬛🎶Yes, we have blackbirds in No...
05/18/2026

🎶 "Blackbird, fly... You were only waiting for this moment to arise" 🎶 - The Beatles

🐦‍⬛🎶
Yes, we have blackbirds in Northwest Alaska! The rusty blackbird, pictured here, is known in the Kobuk River dialect of Iñupiaq as tulukkam ittuq or "little raven." They are 8-9 inches long with a distinctive pale yellow eye.

photo courtesy Andy Reago and Chrissy McLaren/flickrCC https://flic.kr/p/Fm9yfd

Address

160 2nd Avenue
Kotzebue, AK
99752

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+19074423799

Website

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