A pair of Piping Plovers called York home this season for the first time ever since Maine Audubon has been monitoring the population starting in the 1980s. Short Sands Beach is a small quarter-mile-long stretch of sandy beach with Ellis Park set behind it. A pair of plovers decided that Ellis Park’s man-made beach volleyball […]
Birds
Plover Nesting Season Sets New High
Maine Piping Plovers have done it again by shattering past record numbers, reaching 191 breeding pairs that fledged 352 chicks. The prior record of breeding pairs—174—was in 2025. The most chicks ever fledged—252—was recorded in 2022. Yes, that’s 100 more! This year, plover productivity was 1.84 chicks fledged per pair, which is higher than the […]
Small Wonders: Alarm Calls
About a year ago, on the way to work, I stopped to admire a Black-capped Chickadee that had landed in a small tree only a few feet away. It watched me while making its “chickadee-dee-dee” call, and I gazed back, feeling grateful that a wild animal had chosen to share space and interact with me. […]
Stories from the 2026 Loon Count
The 43rd Annual Loon Count is a wrap! More than a thousand volunteers headed out on the water and surveyed more than 400 lakes across the state from 7 to 7:30 am on Saturday July 18. Despite some wind, it was a beautiful morning for the Loon Count. We want to give a huge shout […]
Breaking News: Maine Audubon Celebrates Rodenticide Restrictions
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2026 MAINE AUDUBON media AT maineaudubon.org Maine Audubon Celebrates Rodenticide Restrictions State Board of Pesticides Control moves to restrict harmful toxins often found in owls, eagles, pets, and other non-target wildlife AUGUSTA – The Board of Pesticides Control (BPC, Board) moved forward today with a restriction on the sale and […]
Big news regarding little birds: we have Piping Plover chicks on the beach!
—By Kevin Mullan, Coastal Birds Seasonal Outreach Coordinator; photo by Rachel Dupre, Coastal Birds Seasonal Shorebird Technician Four sand-colored cotton balls hatched in Biddeford over Memorial Day weekend. The Coastal Birds Crew and volunteers have been preparing for this moment all spring, surveying beaches for breeding pairs, searching for nests, and putting up fencing and […]
Small Wonders: Why nest on the ground?
Last week I found a large, speckled egg in the West Meadow at Gilsland Farm. It was an empty Wild Turkey egg, and its location in the middle of a meadow, rather than in the woods at the base of a tree, where turkeys nest, suggested that it had been someone’s dinner. To any bird, […]
Optimism in the Face of Development: Birds & Cities
When you’re thinking about birding, the first places that come to mind are probably remote nature preserves, large expanses of marsh, or maybe even national parks like Acadia. You might not spend your time watching the pigeons that nest in the eaves of your neighbor’s house or the Chipping Sparrows that sing from that lone […]
Backyard Bird of the Month for January: Tufted Titmouse
You don’t have to be an expert to know what’s on the mind of a Tufted Titmouse. As one of the most vocal birds in Maine, they’re a great subject for studying bird behavior. Their most familiar noises might be their squeaky (dare I say ‘mousey’) contact calls and the raspy, mechanical scolding which you […]