The Arc Raiders Avian Alarm project dropped with the Riven Tides update on April 28, 2026, and I’ve been grinding it pretty much non-stop since. Five stages, a hard May 26 deadline, and a stack of rewards that’s actually worth your time — including the Bird House backpack and 250 total Raider Tokens. Here’s everything I figured out the messy way so you don’t have to.
What you’ll find inside:
- The exact buoy location for Stage 1 (the in-game hint is misleading)
- Every material and ship model needed across Stages 2–5
- Rewards for each tier, ranked by what’s actually useful
- My fastest farming routes for the rare stuff
- FAQs pulled from what people are actually asking
I spent my first run wandering the Seabed for like 20 minutes looking for the wrong thing, so let me save you that headache.
Table of Contents
What the Avian Alarm Actually Is
Lore-wise, you’re helping Speranza rig up a low-tech early warning system using captured birds to detect tremors and atmospheric changes. Gameplay-wise? You’re laying one trap on the Riven Tides coastline, then donating a pile of materials over four more stages. Stage 1 is a quick field task. Stages 2 through 5 are a grind — and one of them locks you into killing a Vaporizer.
The whole thing expires May 26, 2026, which lines up with the next monthly patch. So you’ve got about a month from update launch. That sounds like plenty of time until you realize how rare some of the late-stage drops are.
Stage 1: Where to Lay the Bird Trap (Northeast of Port Authority)
This is where I lost my first chunk of time. The objective says “Lay a bird trap next to the buoys along the Seabed in Riven Tides,” and Seabed is technically in the northwest. But the actual buoy you want is way more specific.
Here’s the real spot: head to the dried-up seabed northeast of the Port Authority Building at the top of the map. You’ll see a big orange buoy poking out of the sand against the sea wall. Can’t miss it once you’re close — it stands out hard against the flat coastline.
Around the buoy you’ll see multiple ghostly blue interaction prompts. Walk up to any of them, hit interact, and your raider plants the trap. Done. You don’t have to extract for it to count. I died to a Leaper on my way back to the extraction zone on my first attempt and the stage still ticked complete the moment I returned to Speranza.
A few things I learned the hard way here:
- The area gets crowded. Like, really crowded. Other raiders are running the same objective, plus there are nearby Apollo quests like Shoring Up Defenses and Battening Down that pull people to the Stacking Yard right next door. Expect PvP.
- I went in with a full kit my first try and got third-partied. Now I run the free starter loadout for this step. There’s literally no loot you need to bring in, and dying with nothing costs you nothing.
- Stack the trip with other tasks. While you’re up there, knock out the Apollo intro quests on Riven Tides if you haven’t yet. Two birds, one extraction.
Stage 1 reward: 1× Dockmaster’s Detector and 25 Raider Tokens. That detector is the actual prize here — it unlocks the new Beachcombing mechanic, which is also the best way to farm the rare ship models you’ll need later.
All 5 Stages at a Glance
Before I get into each stage, here’s the full requirements list so you can start hoarding:
| Stage | Requirements |
|---|---|
| 1 — Initial Flock Intake | Lay a bird trap at the Seabed buoy |
| 2 — Preliminary Signal Birds | 7× Tick Pod, 20× Canister, 12× Moss, 5× Twilight Compass |
| 3 — Secondary Validation Birds | 3× Comet Igniter, 10× Fertilizer, 10× Rusted Tools, 5× Velocity |
| 4 — Heightened Alert Birds | 1× Vaporizer Regulator, 3× Water Filter, 8× Agave, 5× Sirena Dorata |
| 5 — Critical Warning Birds | 2× Turbine Compressor, 3× Red Coral Jewelry, 4× Roots, 1× Leviathan’s Crown |
For the first time in Arc Raiders, you can scroll ahead and see future stage requirements before unlocking them. Use that. I’m already hunting for the Leviathan’s Crown ship model in week one because that’s going to be the worst bottleneck for the whole player base.
The Ship Model Bottleneck Nobody’s Warning You About
Stages 2 through 5 each demand a specific Ship Model trinket — Twilight Compass, Velocity, Sirena Dorata, and Leviathan’s Crown. These are also tied to the Last Resort event, so the entire playerbase is fighting over them at the same time you are.
A few things I’ve nailed down so far:
- Ship Models only seem to spawn on Riven Tides. I tried looting a Bird City run just to check, came back empty.
- The Hotel Panorama Azzurro is the goldmine. Multi-floor building, lots of furniture spawns. I’ve found Wind Sprites, Twilight Compasses, and one Velocity here. Check shelves, side tables, window ledges, and especially the couches.
- They have no glow, no audio cue. You have to actually look at them and get the interact prompt. Sprint through a room and you’ll blow right past one.
- The Beachcombing map condition is the cheat code for the rare ones. Pull out your Dockmaster’s Detector, dig the buried caches on the beach north of the Port Authority, and you’ve got a real shot at Sirena Dorata or Leviathan’s Crown. I pulled a Sirena out of a beach cache on day two — would not have happened in a normal run.
The Detector wears down with use, kind of like Snap Hooks. You can get one from Stage 1, find more as common gadget loot on the map, or hope a blueprint surfaces. Right now I’m rationing mine.
Stage 2: Preliminary Signal Birds
The first donation stage is honestly the easiest of the bunch. Tick Pods drop from killing Ticks (those scuttling Arc bugs) — Riven Tides has plenty of them. Canisters are everywhere; you’ve probably already got a stash in your stash. Moss grows on rocks and trees, especially in the vegetated zones around the inland sections of the map.
The pinch point: 5× Twilight Compass. Common rarity ship model, but you still need to find five of them. Hotel Panorama Azzurro is the move. I cleared two on a single run by hitting both upper floors carefully and not sprinting.
Reward: 1× Heavy Gun Parts Blueprint, 3× Surge Coil, 25 Raider Tokens.
The Heavy Gun Parts blueprint is the standout. Surge Coils are nice if you don’t already have a stockpile sitting in your stash from previous projects.
Stage 3: Secondary Validation Birds
This is where it starts to bite. Comet Igniters drop from killing Comets before they detonate, which is a clutch move you might already know if you grinded the Weather Monitor System project. If you didn’t, here’s the basic loop: shoot the Comet’s hull as it’s diving, time it before it slams the ground, and the Igniter drops as loot. They’re more common in Riven Tides and Buried City than the recently-nerfed Dam Battlegrounds.
Fertilizer (10×) and Rusted Tools (10×) are bog-standard scavenge items — barns, sheds, garages, industrial stockpiles. The 5× Velocity ship model is your bottleneck again. Same drill: hotels, residences, beachcombing.
Reward: Anvil 4, Anvil Splitter, 50 Raider Tokens.
Anvil 4 is one of the best weapons in the game right now. The Anvil Splitter is a legendary mod that almost nobody has even seen drop in the wild. Worth the grind for that alone, honestly.
Stage 4: Heightened Alert Birds
Stage 4 nearly broke me. The kicker is 1× Vaporizer Regulator. Just one. But Vaporizers only spawn during the Close Scrutiny map condition, and they’re brutal — flying lasers, deployable energy shields, the works. They guard the Assessor probes that fall from the sky.
My approach:
- Queue Close Scrutiny on a map I know well. I run Spaceport for this.
- Watch for the three red beams shooting up — that’s an Assessor landing.
- Bring a Hullcracker or Equalizer. I tried killing one with a Sledgehammer-class weapon and burned through ammo so fast it wasn’t funny.
- Aim for the eight thrusters (two per corner). Ground the Vaporizer first, then finish it.
- Stay behind hard cover. The continuous laser melts shields in seconds if you peek too long.
Water Filters and Agave aren’t bad — Filters from kitchens and utility rooms, Agave around the dry/desert sections of Buried City and the inland patches of Riven Tides.
The 5× Sirena Dorata is the tough trinket here — it’s epic rarity. Beachcombing or bust.
Reward: Gel Patches face style, Riven Tides Hotel Keycard No. 311, 50 Raider Tokens.
The keycard is the sneaky-good reward. Hotel Keycard No. 311 unlocks a specific room in Panorama Azzurro that, based on every other hotel keycard in the game, will hold guaranteed high-tier loot. That’s actual in-raid value, not just cosmetic fluff.
Stage 5: Critical Warning Birds
Last stage. 2× Turbine Compressor is the headline ask, and that means killing the brand-new ARC Turbine — twice. The Turbine is the floating cone enemy added in this same update.
What I learned trying to solo my first one:
- It only spawns once a match has been running 15+ minutes. Camp the map for a while or run a session you weren’t planning to extract from anyway.
- Don’t engage while it’s airborne. Its armor soaks damage, and the proximity mines, lightning missiles, and homing rockets it deploys will smoke you in the open.
- Wait for it to land. When it lands, the spinning canisters on the side become exposed — that’s the weak spot.
- Hullcrackers shred those canisters. Bring two if you can.
The Compressor drops from the kill and is basically Riven Tides exclusive in practice. It can also be used to craft the new Powered Descender, which is a tradeoff — keep your two for the project first, then start farming for crafting.
Red Coral Jewelry (3×) and Roots (4×) are both Riven Tides loot, mostly residential containers and crates. The 1× Leviathan’s Crown is the rarest ship model in the entire project. Beachcombing during the right map condition is your best shot. I’d start hunting for this from day one if I were you, not week three.
Reward: Bird House backpack attachment, Fist In Air emote, Acoustic Guitar, 100 Raider Tokens.
The Bird House attachment is the cosmetic chase reward and it’s chef’s kiss given the whole project’s bird theme. Acoustic Guitar is a fun item — yes, you can actually play it in Speranza.
Why the 250 Raider Tokens Number Matters
Adding up all five stages, you walk away with 250 total Raider Tokens. That’s the highest token payout of any project to date — more than High-Gain Antenna, more than Weather Monitor, more than Trophy Display. Even if you don’t care about a single cosmetic on this list, the token count alone makes the Avian Alarm worth doing. That’s a meaningful chunk toward the next premium cosmetic or token-locked item.
What I’d Skip (Honest Take)
If you’re behind on time, the Gel Patches face style in Stage 4 is the most skippable cosmetic for me. It’s a face cover and you can barely see it on most outfits. But you can’t actually skip a stage to get to the next one — projects gate progress sequentially. So you’re really deciding whether to stop after Stage 3 (and walk away with the Anvil 4 + Splitter combo) or push through to the end.
Honest answer: push through. Stage 5’s Bird House and the 100 tokens make the back half worth it. The Stage 4 Hotel Keycard alone has more in-raid value than people are giving it credit for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly is the bird trap location for Stage 1?
It’s at the dried-up seabed northeast of the Port Authority Building, at the top of the Riven Tides map. Look for a large orange buoy sticking out of the sand near the sea wall. Multiple blue interaction prompts will appear around it — interact with any of them and the trap goes down.
Do I need to extract after laying the bird trap?
Nope. The objective tracks the moment you place the trap. You can die immediately after and it’ll still register when you return to Speranza and check the Avian Alarm project page. I tested this the painful way.
Can I see all the stage requirements before unlocking each one?
Yes, and this is new. For the first time in Arc Raiders’ project history, you can scroll ahead and see every stage’s items before reaching it. Use it to plan your stash and stop hoarding stuff you don’t actually need.
How do I farm Turbine Compressors fast?
Stay in a Riven Tides match for at least 15 minutes — Turbines don’t spawn before then. Wait for it to land (don’t shoot it while airborne), focus its exposed spinning canisters with a Hullcracker, and stay behind cover to avoid the proximity mines and homing missiles. You only need 2 total for Stage 5.
Are ship models on every map or just Riven Tides?
Just Riven Tides, as far as anyone has confirmed. I tested Bird City and got nothing. Hotel Panorama Azzurro and Beachcombing on Riven Tides are your two best sources, and Beachcombing is where the rare ones actually drop.
Is the Dockmaster’s Detector reusable?
Sort of. It wears down with repeated use, like a Snap Hook, so you’ll burn through them. Stage 1 only gives you one. You can also find them as common gadget loot on the map, and a craftable blueprint is rumored but I haven’t seen one yet.
What happens if I don’t finish before May 26?
The project disappears with the next monthly patch on May 26, 2026, and any unclaimed rewards go with it. Embark made the deadline explicit this time after the High-Gain Antenna and Weather Monitor System projects expired with little warning and a lot of community salt.
Is the Avian Alarm project worth grinding?
Honestly, yeah. 250 Raider Tokens is the highest payout of any project to date. Add Anvil 4, the Anvil Splitter mod, the Bird House backpack, and the Hotel Keycard, and there’s something for every play style. Even if you don’t care about cosmetics, the token count alone is worth the time investment.
Final Thoughts on the Avian Alarm Project
The Avian Alarm project is the most front-loaded grind in Arc Raiders right now, but it’s also the most rewarding one Embark has shipped. The trick is starting the rare-stuff hunt early — Leviathan’s Crown, Sirena Dorata, and Turbine Compressors should be on your radar from day one, not week three. Take advantage of being able to scroll ahead through every stage’s requirements; that’s a quality-of-life win Embark finally got right after months of community feedback.
May 26 is closer than it looks. Get in, grab the Detector, and get hunting before the playerbase picks the map clean.