Maryland

The state of Maryland covers 12,407 square miles ranging from the barrier island beaches of Worcester County to the ridges and valleys and Allegheny Plateau of Garrett County. Although the eastern half of the state is relatively flat Coastal Plain, the terrain rises gradually to the west through the Piedmont and Ridge and Valley sections. The spine of the Appalachians runs through the far west, and the state's highest mountain is in the extreme southwest at Backbone Mountain (3360 ft). Chesapeake Bay dominates the topography of the state, and its countless tributaries are responsible for its 7719 miles of tidal shoreline. With a 2005 population of 5.6 million people averaging 542 people/square mile, Maryland is one of the more densely settled states, due largely to the heavily settled Baltimore-D.C. corridor.

A total of 432 bird species have been recorded in Maryland (MD/DCRC 2008), of which about 222 are known to breed regularly or occasionally. Click here to download an excel spreadsheet showing the bird species of Maryland and their conservation status based on various criteria. This file also has population estimates for Maryland of key landbirds, based on the Partners in Flight Landbird Population Estimates database housed at Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory.

Seven AKN datasets have data from Maryland, totaling 1,305,141 observations. Of those datasets, one is unique to Maryland--the Maryland Marshbird Survey, a project of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

**A file of the complete AKN dataset for Maryland can be downloaded here.**

The AKN Bar Charts provide an easy way to view AKN data from Maryland, showing a summary of all species reported for the state and their temporal frequency throughout the year. Click here or on the image below to view a bar chart summarizing all AKN data from Maryland or click here to generate your own bar chart.

Additional bar charts using just eBird data allow one to generate bar charts for specific refuges, parks, and other "hot" birding locations (hotspots). You can customize a bar chart for any state, county, BCR, or hotspot. A customized bar chart can be generated for one or multiple Maryland locations, and please note that you can select as many locations as you wish. It is also possible to explore frequency maps for a species, and within eBird those maps can be refined to view point maps for just Maryland.

The AKN Google Earth files provide a way to explore AKN data for Maryland geographically. Click here or on the image below to download a Google Earth file showing all datapoints for the state of Maryland. Using Google Earth, a free application, you can then explore the spatial distribution of the various datasets and also see summaries of the data by clicking on the points. For more on how to use these files, click here.

A number of additional projects have data from Maryland not yet represented in the AKN. The Northeast Coordinated Bird Monitoring Network has compiled a Register of Northeast Bird Monitoring Programs; to get a similar file with only the Maryland projects, click here.

BIRD HABITATS AND CONSERVATION IN MARYLAND

The diverse swath of habitats in Maryland encompass three Bird Conservation Regions: the New England/Mid-Atlantic Coast, the Piedmont, and the Appalachian Mountains.

(BCR 30) covers the eastern half of the state, including Chesapeake Bay, almost all of the Eastern Shore, and the Western Shore south and east of the Baltimore-D.C. corridor. Coastal areas host some of the habitats of the greatest conservation concern. Maryland has extensive coastal saltmarshes on its more saline and less developed Eastern Shore. These extensive marshes host species of concern including Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, American Black Duck, and Black Rail.

Maryland's coastline is relatively short (32 miles), and while 12 of those lie in heavily developed Ocean City, the remainder is protected by Assateague Island National Seashore and Assateague Island State Park, where all the state's Piping Plovers and most American Oystercatchers nest. Islands behind Assateague and in Chesapeake Bay host colonies of nesting herons and ibis, terns, and gulls, sometimes including species such as Royal Tern and Brown Pelican at the northern limit of their range. Migratory stopovers for shorebirds host thousands of shorebirds on spring and fall migration, but are far less important than those in neighboring states of Delaware and Virginia.

Chesapeake Bay also hosts particularly large populations of nesting Osprey and Bald Eagle. The extensive marshes, bays, rivers, and estuarine complexes of Chesapeake Bay and the embayments along the coast harbor large concentrations of wintering waterfowl. Chesapeake Bay is especially important for species such as Tundra Swan, Canvasback, Greater and Lesser Scaup, but also hosts hundreds of thousands of other waterfowl including Canada and Snow Geese, American Black Duck, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Surf Scoters, Ruddy Ducks, and more. Certain other species, such as Brant, are more prevalent along the immediate Atlantic Coast. A concentration of thousands of Redhead in Pocomoke Sound is one of the higher concentrations on the East Coast. Exploitation, pollution and eutrophication of Chesapeake Bay, and the accompanying loss of submerged aquatic vegetation, has resulted in drastic declines in some species.

Unsettled areas are often dominated by agriculture, especially on the Eastern Shore, where corn and soybean are dominant crops. Much of the forest is heavily fragmented, although some large contiguous patches have been protected. These patches are of high importance for Forest Interior Dwelling Landbirds (FIDS) and older patches, such as Belt Woods IBA, have some of the highest known densities of species like Wood Thrush and Red-eyed Vireo. The Pocomoke--Nassawango IBA hold cypress swamps with a distinctly southern flavor, with hundreds of nesting Prothonotary Warblers among a number of other warblers and Neotropical migrants; Swainson's Warbler, at the northern limit of its range and one of Maryland's rarest nesting birds, may still persist in more remote areas.

The Piedmont (BCR 28) BCR is transitional between the mountainous Appalachians and the flat coastal plain. To the south this BCR is dominated by pine and mixed southern hardwoods. Maryland lies in the northern portion of the BCR, which extends north into Pennsylvania and New Jersey and priority landbirds of southern pine forests such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrow, and Brown-headed Nuthatch do not occur in this BCR in Maryland. A large number of Forest Interior Dwelling Landbirds (FIDS) do occur here, with up to xxx species of nesting warblers. Species of particular conservation concern such as Whip-poor-will, Red-headed Woodpecker, Cerulean, Prairie, and Blue-winged Warbler, and Grasshopper Sparrow . Interior wetlands, reservoirs, and riverine systems provide migration and wintering habitat for waterfowl and some shorebirds. The fragmented patchwork of pasture, woodlots, and suburban sprawl that now dominates most of this region creates significant bird conservation challenges.

In Maryland, the Appalachian Mountains (BCR 29) BCR includes the Ridge and Valley Region and the Allegheny Plateau. The rugged terrain is generally dominated by oak-hickory and other deciduous forest types at lower elevations and by various combinations of pine, hemlock, spruce, and fir in higher areas. While flatter portions are in agricultural use, the majority of most segments of this region are forested. Priority forest birds include Cerulean Warbler at low elevations and Black-throated Blue Warbler at high elevations. Golden-winged Warblers are in early successional areas, and Henslow’s Sparrows are in grasslands, especially reclaimed strip mines, which also have species such as Grasshopper Sparrow and Bobolink. In Maryland man-made lakes such as Deep Creek Lake, Broadford Reservoir, and several others provide stopover and wintering habitat for waterfowl and isolated beaver-created wetlands provide habitat for Wood Duck breeding. Many of Maryland's rarer breeding species, such as Upland Sandpiper, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Alder Flycatcher, Mourning Warbler, and Pine Siskin are largely or entirely restricted to the Allegheny Plateau of the far western portion of the state.

Maryland IBAs

The Maryland Important Bird Area (IBA) program has identified 26 IBAs across the state, from cypress swamps on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to the bogs, swamps, and ridges of the Garrett County highlands. Maryland's IBAs are shown on a map and are listed below. For more information on the Maryland IBA program, click here or contact the state IBA director:

David Curson
dcurson@audubon.org
Maryland-DC IBA Coordinator
(410) 558-2473

ORNITHOLOGICAL RESOURCES

State agency:

Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
Tawes State Office Building
Annapolis, MD 21401
1-877-620-8367(Weekdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.)
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/

State Ornithological Society:

Maryland Ornithological Society (MOS)
http://www.mdbirds.org/

Delmarva Ornithological Society (Eastern Shore)
P.O. Box 4247
Greenville, DE 19807
http://www.dosbirds.org/
webmaster@dosbirds.org

Audubon Naturalist Society (D.C. Area)
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/

State Records Committee:

Maryland/D.C. Records Committee
http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html

Other links:

eBird: Report your birding observations, whether from a week long trip throughout the state or backyard sightings while gardening. All sightings are valuable and will be automatically integrated with the Avian Knowledge Network and Northeast Avian Data Center. Read more about eBird or submit observations now!

Maryland Breeding Bird Atlas: Maryland's first breeding bird atlas ran from 1983-1988 and the state just completed its second atlas which ran from 2002-2006. Review the results of both atlases here.