Published on June 15, 2025
Each spring, the Arctic comes alive with the calls of migrating birds and the sight of fuzzy hatchlings - a tradition that dates back much further than anyone imagined. According to new research, birds were nesting in the Arctic as far back as 73 million years ago, sharing the ancient polar landscape with dinosaurs.
This remarkable discovery, featured on the cover of the latest issue of the journal Science, is now the earliest-known record of bird reproduction in polar regions. The research was led by Lauren Wilson, a PhD student at Princeton University, based on her master’s thesis at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Birds in the Arctic for Half Their Existence
“Birds have existed for around 150 million years,” Wilson said. “And for nearly half that time, they’ve been nesting in the Arctic.”
The research team analyzed dozens of tiny, fossilized bones and teeth collected from Alaska’s Prince Creek Formation, an area already known for its rich deposits of dinosaur fossils. Among the discoveries were bones from several bird species, including ancient relatives of loons, gulls, ducks, and geese - all believed to have been nesting in the region during the late Cretaceous period.
Rewriting the Evolutionary Timeline
Prior to this study, the oldest known evidence of birds nesting in either polar region dated back just 47 million years - long after the asteroid event that wiped out most of Earth’s species. This new finding shifts that timeline back by 25 to 30 million years.
“The Arctic is considered the nursery for modern birds,” said Dr. Pat Druckenmiller, senior author of the study and director of the University of Alaska Museum of the North. “It’s incredible to think that birds have been raising their young in this region for 73 million years.”
A Rare Fossil Find
The fossils uncovered are especially valuable because bird bones, especially those of chicks, are delicate and rarely survive the fossilization process. “Finding bird bones from the Cretaceous is already rare,” Wilson said. “Finding baby bird bones is almost unheard of.”
In total, the team identified over 50 bird bones and fragments, now housed in the University of Alaska Museum’s collections. The discovery is a testament to the excavation techniques used in the Prince Creek Formation, where researchers carefully collect everything - from large bones to microscopic fragments.
Putting Alaska on the Fossil Map
“We’ve truly put Alaska on the map when it comes to fossil birds,” Druckenmiller said. “It wasn’t something most paleontologists expected.”
The researchers believe some of the bones may belong to Neornithes - the evolutionary group that includes all modern birds. Some fossils even lack teeth, a trait unique to today’s birds. If confirmed, these could be the oldest modern bird fossils ever discovered, predating current records by about 4 million years.
“To confirm that, we’d need to find a partial or complete skeleton,” Druckenmiller explained. “But what we’ve already uncovered is incredibly significant.”
Global Collaboration and Future Discoveries
This study brought together scientists from multiple institutions across North America and Europe, including the Bruce Museum, Florida State University, Royal Tyrrell Museum, University of Colorado, and Montana State University. Their combined efforts have opened new windows into the lives of birds - and their dinosaur-era ancestors — in Earth’s ancient Arctic.
As science continues to unearth secrets frozen in time, one thing is certain: birds have been calling the Arctic home for far longer than we ever realized.
For more updates on ancient life, science discoveries, and natural history, follow our blog and stay informed.
