Information About

Utqiagvik

Quick Facts

Open in The Map Utqiagvik on The Map

Location

71 ° 17' 26.002" N,
156 ° 47' 19" W

Region

North Slope

Elevation

10 ft (3.05 m)

Utqiagvik in Detail.

About

On Chukchi Sea coast, 10 mi. SW of Point Barrow, Arctic Plain.

History

The former name Barrow was derived from Point Barrow, and was originally a general designation, because non-native residents found it easier to pronounce than the native name. A post office established in 1901 helped the name "Barrow" to become dominant. The native name, also rendered "Utkiakvik," refers to a "high place for viewing," because the community was situated on relatively high (30 ft) land at Cape Smyth. Although Captain Beechey's party (1831, p307), Royal Navy (RN), mentions a village at Cape Smyth in 1826, the name was first recorded in 1853 as "Ot-ki-a-wing" by Commander Maguire, Royal Navy (RN), (Great Britain, 1854, map facing p186). John Simpson's native map dated 1855 records the name "Otkiawik," which was misprinted on the subsequent British Admiralty (Brit. Adm.) Chart as "Otkiovik." Lieutenant P.H. Ray's party established a station located one-half mile northeast of the native village for meteorologic and magnetic observations in 1881. They called the station "Ooglaamie" or "Uglaamie," a

Birds Sighted Here

Sorted by Most Common to Least Common Viewings

Black-legged Kittiwake, Glaucous Gull, Short-tailed Shearwater, Ross's Gull, Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, King Eider, Northern Pintail, Aleutian Cackling Goose, Lapland Longspur, Kittlitz's Murrelet, Hoary Redpoll, Iceland Gull, Willow Ptarmigan, Red-throated Loon, Red-breasted Merganser, Northern Fulmar, Dunlin, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, Common Murre, Lesser Scaup, White-winged Scoter, Baird's Sandpiper, Herring Gull, American Golden Plover, Parasitic Jaeger, Crested Auklet, Arctic Warbler, Emperor Goose, American Wigeon, Spectacled Eider, Common Merganser, Least Sandpiper, Thick-billed Murre, Ivory Gull, Common Raven, Snow Bunting, Harris's Sparrow, Greater White-fronted Goose, Canada Goose, Tundra Swan, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Harlequin Duck, Black Scoter, Red-necked Grebe, Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Eurasian Dotterel, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit, Ruff, Red-necked Stint, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Pomarine Jaeger, Black Guillemot, Sabine's Gull, Common Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Arctic Tern, Pacific Loon, Snow Goose, Tundra Bean Goose, Trumpeter Swan, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Steller's Eider, Surf Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Rock Ptarmigan, Sandhill Crane, Pacific Golden-Plover, Eskimo Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone, Black Turnstone, Red Knot, Stilt Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Rock Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Little Stint, White-rumped Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, Wandering Tattler, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Wood Sandpiper, Long-tailed Jaeger, Dovekie, Parakeet Auklet, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, Slaty-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Loon, Yellow-billed Loon, Pelagic Cormorant, Northern Harrier, Bald Eagle, Rough-legged Hawk, Snowy Owl, Short-eared Owl, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Northern Shrike, Barn Swallow, Brown Thrasher, Varied Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Fieldfare, Dusky Thrush, Bluethroat, Siberian Rubythroat, Northern Wheatear, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Red-throated Pipit, Buff-bellied Pipit, Brambling, Common Redpoll, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, Smith's Longspur, Chipping sparrow, American Tree Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Bobolink, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, Northern Waterthrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Canada Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Scarlet Tanager