Maine

The state of Maine covers a vast 35,385 square miles, with sandy beaches and coastal saltmarshes on the southern coast giving way to rocky headlands on the northeastern coast, and mixed forests of the south transitioning to boreal forest in the interior. Mount Katahdin (5,267 ft) is the state's high point and the famous terminus of the Appalachian Trail. Its 2005 population of 1.3 million people averages just 41 people/square mile, demonstrating that it still retains vast areas of wilderness and is far less populated than most of the rest of the states in the Northeast.

A total of 427 bird species have been recorded in Maine (Maine Records Committee 2005), of which about 220 are known to breed regularly or occasionally and an additional 7 are extirpated breeders (no breeding in last 20 years). Click here to download an excel spreadsheet showing the bird species of Maine and their conservation status based on various criteria. This file also has population estimates for Maine 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 Maine, totaling 521,800 observations!

The AKN Bar Charts provide an easy way to view AKN data from Maine, 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 Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine.

A number of additional projects have data from Maine 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 Maine projects, click here.

BIRD HABITATS AND CONSERVATION IN MAINE

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Maine IBAs

The Maine Important Bird Area (IBA) program is in progress. Some 22  Maine IBAs have been identified in the southern half of the state; the next stage will identify potential IBAs in northern Maine. The identified Maine IBAs are listed below. For more information on the Maine IBA program, click here or contact the state IBA director:

Susan Gallo
Maine IBA Director
Maine Audubon
Falmouth, Maine
(207) 781-2330
sgallo@maineaudubon.org

State agency:

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0041
Phone: (207) 287-8000
Fax: (207) 287-8094 or (207) 287-6395
http://www.maine.gov/ifw/index.shtml

State Ornithological Society:

Maine Audubon
20 Gilsland Farm Road
Falmouth, Maine 04105
Phone: (207) 781-2330
Fax: (207) 781-0974
info@maineaudubon.org
http://www.maineaudubon.org/

State Records Committee:

Maine Bird Records Committee
Bill Sheehan (Secretary)
me-brc@maine.rr.com

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!

Mountain Birdwatch: This study monitors the status of high elevation montane bird communities from Maine to New York, with a special focus on Bicknell's Thrush and several other species of concern, on mountaintops throughout the Northeast. Mountain Birdwatch is conducted by the Vermont Center for Ecostudies and the data are available through NADC and the AKN; read more here.

Mainebirding.net: Information on birds and birding within Maine.