May 31 marked the end of BirdSafe Maine’s Spring 2025 bird monitoring season. It was, sadly, another eventful effort in Portland and around Maine, though there are signs of significant progress. Read on to learn about how it went.
On the Portland Route
We recorded 43 total birds dead or injured on the streets of Portland this season. This represents our second-highest spring total ever behind 2023, despite the fact that we limited our monitoring just to the month of May.
Species found (and the number of each) include White-throated Sparrow (9); Common Yellowthroat (7); Ovenbird (4); Swamp Sparrow (3); Northern Waterthrush (3); Black-and-white Warbler (3); Song Sparrow (2); and single individuals of Tennessee Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, Brown Creeper, Gray Catbird, Hermit Thrush, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Magnolia Warbler, Nashville Warbler, and House Finch, along with several unidentified birds.
We found birds at 16 different addresses along our route, including at several buildings we’ve long known to cause issues. We’re working with one of those buildings now on addressing the situation. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, in further proof of concept, we spent another season without finding a single dead bird behind the MEMIC building, who treated their one-dangerous façade with Feather Friendly decals. Success!
Here are some great graphics about our spring, provided by Dr. Chris Maher. You can see in the third slide that bird strikes in Portland peak as migration peaks, at around the third week in May.
Elsewhere in Maine
BirdSafe Maine also collects reports of bird strikes from around the state. We received reports of 55 birds around the state this spring. Species include American Robin (3); Belted Kingfisher; Black-and-white Warbler (4); Black-capped Chickadee; Black-throated Blue Warbler; Blackburnian Warbler (3); Blackpoll Warbler; Common Yellowthroat (5); Dark-eyed Junco (2); Downy Woodpecker (2); Eastern Bluebird (2); Gray Catbird; Hairy Woodpecker; Hermit Thrush; House Finch; House Sparrow; Louisiana Waterthrush (2); Merlin; Northern Flicker; Northern Mockingbird; Northern Parula (4); Ovenbird (3); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (3); White-throated Sparrow (2); Wood Thrush; Yellow Warbler (4); Yellow-bellied Flycatcher; and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Reports came in from all over Maine (and parts of New Hampshire, thanks to data from the York County-based Center for Wildlife rehabbers), and included reports from Alfred, Augusta, Biddeford, Brunswick, Cape Neddick, Cumberland, Cumberland County, Cushing, Eliot, Falmouth, Farmington, Franklin County, Greenland NH, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Madbury NH, Milton NH, Newington NH, North Berwick, Old Orchard Beach, Penobscot County, Portland, Rye NH, Scarborough, South Portland, Sumner, Topsham, Wells, West Nottingham NH, Westbrook, Yarmouth, and York. Special thanks to Sonya Kahlenberg for monitoring the Maine Birds Facebook page for bird strike posts!
Thank You, Volunteers!
I just wanted to take a moment to thank the volunteers who gave their time to monitor the streets of Portland this spring. These folks woke up before dawn to walk the streets on behalf of birds, and they deserve high praise. Major, major, major thanks to: Chris Berry; Brooks Bornhofft; Joel Brown; Kay Brown; Marsha Campbell; Wendy Cherubini; Sal Cosmedy; Debra Coyman; Patti Driscoll; Janette Gustafson; Liz Hays; Sonya Kahlenberg; David Keith; Amy Lawrence; Chris Maher; Mike Maher; Sue Maniaci; Brian O’Connor; Jill Osgood; Helen Scalia; Patti Shaw; Stephen Simpson; Austin Smith; and Jeff Stanton!
Other News
Maine Audubon’s Bird Safe on View exhibit is ongoing at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth through the end of June. Come visit to see art related to bird migration, learn about the work of BirdSafe Maine, and view a wide variety of bird-safe products and window solutions.
BirdSafe Maine wanted to thank Flatbread Pizza in Portland for hosting a Community Bake benefit night on May 27. We raised several hundred dollars to support our mission. If you’re interested you can donate to our cause here (write “BirdSafe Maine” in the comment field) to help us print informational materials, facilitate retrofits, work with schools, and more.
There is a lot more happening in the bird safe space! We’ve updated our website (thanks, Melissa K.!) to make it more useful and better looking. We’ve finalized our State of Maine Bird Safe Architecture Guidelines (read the full report here!) and a prepping for release, and we’re working with local and national partners to advice on buildings, ordinances, and other policies. We couldn’t do all this work without you!
