diff --git a/doc/api.rst b/doc/api.rst
index 85ef46ca6ba..103f3984512 100644
--- a/doc/api.rst
+++ b/doc/api.rst
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ Top-level functions
    dot
    polyval
    map_blocks
+   show_backends
    show_versions
    set_options
    get_options
diff --git a/doc/whats-new.rst b/doc/whats-new.rst
index 0da34df2c1a..8f2c2da47b5 100644
--- a/doc/whats-new.rst
+++ b/doc/whats-new.rst
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@ v.2024.11.1 (unreleased)
 
 New Features
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
+- Add :py:func:`~xarray.show_backends` alias for :py:func:`~xarray.backends.list_engines` (:issue:`6577`, :pull:`xxx`). 
+  By `Nick Hodgskin <https://github.com/VeckoTheGecko>`_.
 
 Breaking changes
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/xarray/__init__.py b/xarray/__init__.py
index 634f67a61a2..9e3ab68c59f 100644
--- a/xarray/__init__.py
+++ b/xarray/__init__.py
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@
     TreeIsomorphismError,
     group_subtrees,
 )
+from xarray.backends.plugins import show_backends
 from xarray.core.variable import IndexVariable, Variable, as_variable
 from xarray.namedarray.core import NamedArray
 from xarray.util.print_versions import show_versions
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@
     "register_datatree_accessor",
     "save_mfdataset",
     "set_options",
+    "show_backends",
     "show_versions",
     "unify_chunks",
     "where",
diff --git a/xarray/backends/plugins.py b/xarray/backends/plugins.py
index 555538c2562..c4e09b5939f 100644
--- a/xarray/backends/plugins.py
+++ b/xarray/backends/plugins.py
@@ -132,6 +132,19 @@ def list_engines() -> dict[str, BackendEntrypoint]:
     return build_engines(entrypoints)
 
 
+def show_backends() -> dict[str, BackendEntrypoint]:
+    """
+    Return a dictionary of available engines and their BackendEntrypoint objects.
+
+    This function is an alias for ``xarray.backends.list_engines``.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    dictionary
+    """
+    return list_engines()
+
+
 def refresh_engines() -> None:
     """Refreshes the backend engines based on installed packages."""
     list_engines.cache_clear()
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_plugins.py b/xarray/tests/test_plugins.py
index 2b321ba8dfc..b5492c64c72 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_plugins.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_plugins.py
@@ -275,6 +275,12 @@ def test_list_engines() -> None:
     assert ("zarr" in engines) == has_zarr
     assert "store" in engines
 
+def test_show_engines() -> None:
+    from xarray import show_backends
+    from xarray.backends import list_engines
+
+    assert show_backends() == list_engines()
+
 
 def test_refresh_engines() -> None:
     from xarray.backends import list_engines, refresh_engines