Exciting update from the coastal birds crew: On Monday, May 27, we saw the first Piping Plover chicks on one of our Maine beaches! Though no one was able to capture any photos from that day–the chicks are quite small, move around a lot, and are super fast–we are delighted at the prospect of chicks […]
Birds
BirdSafe Maine Announces Winners of Inaugural Bird Safe Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 28, 2024 MAINE AUDUBON media@maineaudubon.org BirdSafe Maine Announces Winners of Inaugural Bird Safe Awards BirdSafe Maine–a partnership between Maine Audubon, the University of Southern Maine, and the Portland Society for Architecture–honors companies, schools, and individuals working to protect birds from window strikes FALMOUTH, ME — As many as 988 million birds […]
Backyard Bird of the Month for May: Red-eyed Vireo
Here I am! Where are you? Way up here! In the tree! So goes the song of the Red-eyed Vireo, heard in nearly every forested area between Kittery and Fort Kent from May until early autumn. True neotropical migrants, Red-eyed Vireos spend the nonbreeding season in the Amazon Basin, especially in Colombia, Brasil, Venezuela, Ecuador, […]
Day One with the 2024 Coastal Birds Crew
Hello there from the 2024 Coastal Birds Crew! The season is off to a busy start and everyone on the crew has been excited to dive right into work — protecting our rare beach-nesting birds. On our first day on the beaches, we headed down to Ogunquit Beach and fenced along the entire dune edge. […]
Backyard Bird of the Month for April: Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Cowbirds are easily overlooked among the flocks of returning blackbirds in early spring. They are a similar shape and size to Red-winged Blackbirds, and the males of both species are mostly black. Male Brown-headed Cowbirds have no red or yellow on the wing, and a brown head. Females look completely different; they are a […]
Natural climate solutions offer hope in addressing climate change
If you are reading this blogpost on the Maine Audubon website, you likely: know about climate change and that we are already seeing its effects in the landscape all around us; realize that humans are the historical cause, the greatest ongoing contributors, and the source of all future threats around climate change; and share our […]
Will storm damage to dunes affect plover nesting season?
A question we have been getting a lot with the heavy storms pummeling Maine�s coastlines this winter: How will the Piping Plovers manage the upcoming nesting season with the beaches so damaged? What a great question! Finally, fellow plover biologist Laura Williams and I were able to get away from our desks March 12 and […]
Here’s how Swida Dogwoods provide nesting habitat for so many birds
Our 2024 Bringing Nature Home Plants of the Year, the Swida dogwoods, are an important group of plants for many reasons, but they are especially significant for a number of songbird species that nest in Maine. Red-osier, Silky, and Gray Dogwoods all form hedges and thickets in wetlands and field edges, which creates important habitats […]
Backyard Bird of the month for March: Mourning Dove
The �mourning� song of the Mourning Dove is one of the first birdsongs many people learn, partly due to the abundance of this species. They are one of the most widespread species in North America, and have benefited greatly from human development. These habitat generalists are found everywhere except extensive wetlands or forest, and prefer […]