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The next three weeks are heaven for birders. The spring migration is building now and will be petering out by the end of May. The birds are dressed in their breeding finery and the males (and some females) are in full, glorious song. The spring migration is more compressed than the fall when the urgent need to find a mate and nest is over. Whose spirit is not lifted by the spring migration?

Between 1994 and 2017, I coordinated a citizen-science project to track the arrival of our migratory breeding birds. I developed a web tool that allows you to see the arrival data for over 100 species of our breeding birds that spend their winters elsewhere. If you want to know when to expect to see the first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds or Scarlet Tanager or Chestnut-sided Warbler, point your browser to: https://hobbes.colby.edu/arrival/

In my last post in anticipation of Earth Day, I wrote about actions we can do as individuals to help nature and birds in particular.  One suggestion was to convert some of your lawn or other open space to more bird-friendly plant habitat.

One reader wrote to encourage the planting of native plant species. A very good suggestion. Caterpillars of some butterflies and moths are specialized on particular species of plants. A study by the New England Wild Flower Society found that over 30% of the plant species in New England are introduced. Giving our native plants a boost is commendable.

Plant habitat can fill three needs of birds: food, shelter and nesting sites.  If you are interested in making your property more welcoming to birds, keep these three requirements in mind.

As for the food requirement, most of our birds have fairly broad diets.  Warblers are equally happy to glean caterpillars from birches, poplars or maples, for instance. 

Some trees have fruits or seeds that are favored by certain birds.  The Common Redpolls that came into Maine this winter were searching for birch seeds.  Blue Jays are fond of beechnuts and acorns. 

The flowers and fruits of elms are attractive to many birds, particularly Pine Siskins and other finches.  A number of insects occur on elms, which attract warblers and vireos.  Baltimore Orioles often use elms for their distinctive hanging nests.

I recommend having some coniferous trees in a bird-friendly yard.  Conifers provide effective shelter year-round as well as food for a number of birds.  You can’t go wrong with the Maine state tree, the white pine, although balsam fir and eastern hemlocks are fine trees as well and provide cover for birds.

Fruit-eating birds can be attracted to a number of trees and shrubs that keep their fruits through the winter.  Mountain Ash is a beautiful native tree with colorful red berries, which attract Cedar Waxwings and Bohemian Waxwings.  Ruffed Grouse and waxwings also like the colorful red berries of highbush cranberry.  Pine Grosbeaks like crabapples and other apples in the winter.  When American Robins return in the spring in force, they frequently can be found feeding on the fruits of ornamental bushes.

The flowers of apple trees are magnets for Baltimore Orioles in the spring and early summer. 

Hummingbirds are easy to attract.  One of our favorites is bee balm.  The long, tubular flowers are tailor-made for a hummingbird’s long bill and tongue.  The nectar from tubular flowers generally is hard for insects to reach.   All the more food for hummingbirds.

Another great addition for hummingbirds and butterflies is Buddleia, the butterfly bush. Maine winters can be challenging for this bush but what a magnet it is for nectar-feeders of all kinds in the summer. I would think Buddleia would do well from Portland south in Maine. Be aware there is some concern about the rapid spread of Buddleia from their prolific seed production (https://wildseedproject.net/2017/03/disconnect-garden-aesthetics-local-ecology/).

Other flowers that are attractive to hummingbirds include azaleas, Digitalis (foxgloves), coral bells, day lilies, honeysuckles, phlox, scarlet runner beans and, one of my favorites, hollyhocks.

To feed or not to feed? The widespread practice of bird feeding has advocates and opponents. We’ll review the pros and cons of providing handouts for birds.

Much of the research on the effects of bird feeding has been done on Black-capped Chickadees in several states and provinces during the fall and winter. In every case, supplemental food in the form of black oil sunflower seeds increases survivorship. We have no reason to doubt that other common feeder birds also benefit by feasting on the food we offer them.

A feeding station does what it is supposed to do; it causes birds to aggregate where we can see them. A surprising number of birds use your feeders. I did a study of bird feeder use in the woods east of Flagstaff Lake. At each of my banding stations, I caught and color-banded chickadees in November so I could recognize individuals. I counted the visits and checked the identities of chickadees as they came to the feeder to claim a seed. At first, most of the birds were color-banded. By March, I was seeing mostly unbanded birds. A mathematical model allowed me to determine that around 120 different chickadees were visiting the feeder each day in March although I would only see a dozen or so at a time.

Two negative effects can occur by concentrating birds. First, the spread of avian diseases can be facilitated.

In 1994, many House Finches in the east were afflicted with avian conjunctivitis. The disease causes swelled, crusty eyes. In extreme cases, the birds are virtually blind. It’s easy to see how the disease could by spread quickly among such gregarious birds. Afflicted birds are likely to stay close to a feeder, infecting healthy birds. The disease caused massive mortality and House Finches have still not returned to pre-1994 levels.

What can you do? All people who feed birds should clean their feeders regularly. If you see a bird at your feeder that is sluggish or weak or has abnormal eyes, take your feeder down immediately.

Bird feeders can become a different type of feeding station. A Sharp-shinned Hawk or other raptor may decide to stay in the vicinity of an active feeding station. If raptor predation becomes a problem, take your feeders down for a few days (and give them a good cleaning while you are it).

Some people who feed birds worry about being away from their feeders for part of a winter (those were the days!) and thus depriving birds of a food source. The good news is that research has clearly shown that Black-capped Chickadees do not become dependent on our bird seed. Birds seek food in many places so that if one food source is depleted, food can be found elsewhere.

A recent paper by Rachel Mady and colleagues in the journal Behavioral Ecology extends this research. They wanted to know if three common feeder birds (Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice and White-breasted Nuthatches) stayed closer to feeders that constantly had food versus those with intermittent food or no food at all.

The researchers began their experiment in August by putting out constantly stocked feeders in a forest. Then in late October, they assigned each feeder to one of three protocols (constant food, pulsed food (three days with food followed by four days without) and no food).

Over the winter, the authors did regular five-minute counts of the birds from points 10 m from the feeder and 200 m from the feeder. Few birds were in the vicinity of empty feeders. Feeders with constant food anchored the birds; they were more abundant within 10 meters of the feeder compared to points  200 meters away. But the birds in the pulsed treatment were anchored near a feeder when food was available but spread farther away when food was removed. These birds nimbly changed their foraging strategy based on the reliability of food in the feeders.

Every hobby has slang and jargon that is often impenetrable to those who don’t share the hobby. Birding is no exception.

A nemesis bird is not the Hairy Woodpecker that pounds on your gutter early in the morning but rather an uncommon or secretive bird species that a birder can’t ever seem to find. When a birder says she dipped on the White-faced Ibis reported at Scarborough Marsh, she means she could not find it.

If you find a rare bird, you have found a Mega, or if it is really rare, a MEGA. There are other more colorful terms for such rare birds that can’t be printed in a family-friendly blog.

One of the most perplexing slang terms in the birding lexicon for the uninitiated is the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect. This phrase is applicable to Maine this winter. Before I explain, we need to review a little birding history.

Birders often keep lists of birds they have seen or heard. A life list contains all of the birds one has ever seen. There are many other variants: a year list, a Maine list, a North American list, a North American year list, a birds seen on Tuesdays list. You get the idea.

Any time people start compiling lists, a bit of competition may emerge. Some birders want to compile a longer list than their friends or other birders. Birders who avidly maintain their lists are called listers.

This competitive birding or sport birding took off in the late 1960’s. Jim Tucker, a lister from Texas, wanted to develop a way for other birders to compare their various list sizes. Thus was born the American Birding Association with its magazine, Birding.  Birding had articles on sites where rare birds could be found, birding techniques and list totals to allow birders to see how they stacked up against other listers. Hard-core competitive birding was launched.

In the 1970’s, the holy grail for a North American lister was 700 life birds. Roughly 660 species of birds occur in North America every year. Some require trips to far-flung places like the Pribilof Islands for Red-legged Kittiwakes and Parakeet Auklets, Key West for Black Noddy and pelagic trips off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for various shearwaters and storm-petrels. But with effort, getting to 660 species can be achieved. Breaking the 700 barrier means finding 40 species (MEGAs if you will) that normally don’t occur in North America.

For the competitive North American lister, southeastern Arizona, the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and south Florida offer rich diversity as well as higher chances for rarities than other parts of the continent.

One must-visit area in southeast Arizona is the Patagonia Reserve, a property owned by The Nature Conservancy. It’s a delightful place that offers a great chance to see Gray Hawks and some uncommon hummingbirds.

In 1977, a few birders in the Patagonia area stopped at a roadside picnic table for a break. They were fortunate to discover a pair of Rose-throated Becards, a flycatcher relative not normally found in North America. MEGA sighting!

Other listers descended on this picnic table to add the becard to their life lists. Becards are secretive birds so it took some effort for birders to find them. In so doing, they saw other birds. Some of these were rarities: Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Thick-billed Kingbird, Five-striped Sparrow, and Yellow Grosbeak.

So, this snowballing phenomenon in which a rare bird attracts many birders, who find yet more unusual birds, drawing yet more birders who find even more rare birds was termed the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect. The effect is basically a positive feedback loop. A birder finds a rare bird, other birders come to see the rarity and find other rare birds, drawing yet more birders who find yet more rare birds.

Here in Maine, we recently had a possible example of the PPTE. On January 14, Frank Paul found a Black-headed Grosbeak at Capisic Pond in Portland. This species is closely related to our Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Black-headed Grosbeaks are normally found nesting broadly west of the Mississippi River and wintering in Central America. We have four accepted records for Maine and another dozen to be reviewed.

The Capisic Pond bird drew many birders. It turned out to be fairly reliable, so Capisic Pond was getting increased coverage by birders.

On January 29, Brendan McKay found a Redwing at Capisic  Pond. Not to be confused with Red-winged Blackbirds, Redwings are members of the thrush family. In silhouette, a Redwing looks like a robin. Redwings are found widely throughout most of Europe and northern Asia. They colonized Greenland in 1990.

The species is a mega-rarity in North America. Vagrants are most likely to occur in Newfoundland. The Capisic Pond Redwing was only the second for Maine, the first having been seen earlier in February in Steuben on a single day.

January 29 was a Friday. Hordes of birders descended on Capisic Pond over the weekend to see the Redwing. It was a rather furtive bird but was fairly faithful to a large patch of roses. With patience, the bird could be seen. Sometimes, it rewarded birders with killer views.

The Portland Redwing stayed until at least February 22, drawing birders from far and wide. In early February, birders started to report a Dickcissel (perhaps the same one seen there in early January). Dickcissels are uncommon in the state but not in the same league as the grosbeak or the Redwing. They are a North American species with the populations closest to us being in extreme western Pennsylvania and Ohio. 

Some birders in February were able to see the Black-headed Grosbeak, Redwing and Dickcissel on the same day in this jewel of an urban park. Is this an example of the PPTE?

Some recent research out of Oregon State University disputes the existence of the PPTE. The team, led by graduate student, Jesse Haney, used ten years of eBird data to ask if the discovery of a mega-rarity increases sightings of other rarities.

The team searched eBird for records of 81 species of mega-rarities. They determined the number of eBird records for the rarity and the range of days of observation. For instance, there were 419 eBird records for the Capisic Redwing over 25 days. The authors could then calculate the intensity of birding that a rarity engendered. One would expect higher birding intensity would lead to a higher discovery rate of more rarities.

The authors looked at 271 sightings of the mega-rarities from all around the country. One example was the Northern Lapwing that appeared in Poland, Maine from May 3-6 in 2013.

The authors found no support for the PPTE.  Rarities that drew the most eager birders did not lead to a higher rate of discovery of additional rarities than rarities that were seen by few birders.  So, the PPTE is a delightful myth with no scientific support.

This post is the last of three reviewing the highlights of some of the recent Maine Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). This count season spanned December 14 through January 5. We’ll take a coastal trip this time from York to Jonesport. The counts in coastal York and Cumberland County usually have the highest species counts and this year was no different.

The York County count, held of December 14, had 94 species. On the water, 17 species of waterfowl were spotted. The most unusual were six Wood Ducks, a Northern Shoveler and nine Green-winged Teal; all of these are rare in the winter.

Other waterbirds included six Dovekies and 38 Razorbills to go along with the more expected Black Guillemots. Only four species of gulls were present, none unusual. Both Double-crested and Great Cormorants were found; the former outnumbered two to 31.Seven raptor species were present but 17 Red-tailed Hawks were the only species in double digits.

All-time high counts were noted for Black Scoters (980), Red-bellied Woodpeckers (47), Tufted Titmice (232) and Carolina Wren (21). Two excellent rarities for Maine were a Western Tanager and a Rock Wren.Lingering songbirds included a Hermit Thrush, a Gray Catbird, a Pine Warbler, a Prairie Warbler and a Yellow-breasted Chat. The eight species of finches included 73 Common Redpolls and 16 White-winged Crossbills.

Eighty-one species appeared on the Biddeford-Kennebunkport count on January 2. Two Wood Ducks, two Northern Pintail and a Lesser Scaup were the most unusual of the 16 waterfowl species.Seven diurnal raptors were found, highlighted by new high records of 14 Bald Eagles and 50 Red-tailed Hawks. Three owl species were sighted, including one Snowy Owl.

Lingering birds included a Belted Kingfisher, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Pine Warbler, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Savannah Sparrow.Eight species of finches were sighted. The six species of irruptive finches were present only in modest numbers.

The Portland CBC accumulated the most species of any count in Maine this season. The December 14 count had 106 species. The Portland counters had a whopping 20 species of waterfowl. Particularly notable were two Brant, two Wood Ducks and a Ring-necked Duck. Four species of auks were found: a singleton Dovekie, Razorbill and Thick-billed Murre along with 35 Black Guillemots. A single Iceland Gull was the only unexpected species.

Ten species of raptors included a Red-shouldered Hawk, 43 Red-tailed Hawks, a Rough-legged Hawk, a Short-eared Owl and a Northern Saw-whet Owl. Lingering birds included a kKlldeer, eight Belted Kingfishers, three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, nine Northern Flickers, six Hermit Thrushes, two American Pipits, a Fox Sparrow,  an Eastern Meadowlark, two Baltimore Orioles and three Red-winged Blackbirds. Fantastic! Eight species of finches included 194 Common Redpolls and 82 Pine Grosbeaks.

The North Penobscot Bay count on January 2 produced a list of 67 species. The 14 species of waterfowl included one Barrow’s Goldeneye among the 93 Common Goldeneyes. Four species of diurnal raptors included three Red-shouldered Hawks and two Peregrine Falcons. A Barred Owl and two Northern Saw-whet Owls  were the only nocturnal raptors.

The few hardy, lingering birds this year included a Belted Kingfisher, a Northern Flicker, three Eastern Bluebirds,  a White-crowned Sparrow and a Baltimore Oriole. The most notable of the eight species of finches were the 59 Pine Grosbeaks and ten Evening Grosbeaks.

The Mooseport-Jonesport count in extreme eastern Washington County yielded a count of 60 species on December 19. The most notable of the thirteen waterfowl were eight Lesser Scaup. Buffleheads and Common Eiders were the most common. Red-throated Loons (50) were nearly as abundant as Common Loons (52).

Lingering birds were few and far between. Notable lingerers were a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Baltimore Oriole. Finch numbers were low. The ones documented were 12 Purple Finches, 26 Common Redpolls, 30 American Goldfinches and a pair of Evening Grosbeaks.

This post is the second of three reviewing the highlights of some of the recent Maine Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). This count season spanned December 14 through January 5. We’ll concentrate on some inland counts this time.

On December 19, Augusta counters found 60 species. Seven species of waterfowl were tallied. Mallards (407), Canada Geese (300) and Common Mergansers (107) were the most common. Raptors included a Merlin, a Peregrine Falcon and a Northern Shrike. Northern Cardinals put on a good show with 185 individuals. The eight species of finches included five White-winged Crossbills, 26 Common Redpolls and 130 Pine Grosbeaks. Lingering birds included a Belted Kingfisher, 36 Eastern Bluebirds and a Gray Catbird.

Just up the Interstate on the next day, Waterville counters found 61 species. A Common Loon was found along with seven species of waterfowl. Five Barrow’s Goldeneyes were picked out from the 214 Common Goldeneyes. White-winged gulls have been scarce this winter so the five Iceland Gulls and one Glaucous Gull were notable. Forty Evening Grosbeaks and 32 Pine Grosbeaks were the highlights of the eight finches species present. A count of 189 Bohemian Waxwings was impressive. Lingering species were less common than in recent years. Notable reluctant migrators included a Northern Flicker, six Eastern Bluebirds and a Northern Mockingbird.

The Lewiston-Auburn CBC took place on New Year’s Day. Forty-seven species were found. Two Common Loons were tallied along with six species of waterfowl. The duck highlight was the nine Greater Ccaup. A Peregrine Falcon was a nice find. Lingering birds included a Belted Kingfisher, 32 Eastern Bluebirds and a Gray Catbird. Finches were less common than on most other counts with 17 Pine Grosbeaks and nine Purple Finches being most notable.

The Orono-Old Town count yielded 50 species on December 19. Five waterfowl species were tallied but only Mallards were common. Lingering birds included a Northern Flicker, four Eastern Bluebirds, a Hermit Thrush, a Gray Catbird and five Northern Mockingbirds. The nine species of finches were headed by a whopping 223 Evening Grosbeaks, 81 Common Redpolls and 62 Pine Grosbeaks. A stellar finch showing! This count usually has one of the high counts of Bohemian Waxwings and the 107 this season maintained the pattern.

Bangor CBC participants found 58 species on January 3. Eight species of waterfowl were tallied with five Bufflehead and a Barrow’s Goldeneye of note. Two Common Loons were still present. Buteo hawks were impressive with two Red-shouldered Hawks, a Rough-legged Hawk and 15 Red-tailed Hawks, posing a threat to small mammals. Two Peregrine Falcons were also present. Lingering species were few: two Eastern Bluebirds, two Carolina Wrens, a Fox Sparrow and a Common Grackle. Seven species of finches included 73 Pine Grosbeaks and 89 Common Redpolls.

Let’s head over to Sweden in southwestern Maine where 42 bird species were counted on December 28. Three species of game birds were seen: a Ruffed Grouse, 91 Wild Turkeys and three Ring-necked Pheasants (not a native species). Red-breasted Nuthatches were almost as common (99) as their White-breasted cousins (125 birds). Three Eastern Bluebirds were the only lingering birds. Northern finches were relatively scarce. Five species were headed by 30 Common Redpolls and three Pine Grosbeaks.

We’ll end with two counts that have much harsher winters than most count circles in Maine. These counts usually have modest species diversity and abundance.

On December 14, counters at Grand Lake Stream found 17 species and 168 individuals. A total of 25 Northern goshawks was reported, an amazing total. The harshness of the climate is indicated by the single American Crow and two Common Ravens. Six Pine Siskins were the only finches.

The Misery CBC (about 20 miles south of Jackman) yielded 16 species among 346 individuals on New Year’s Day. Highlights were 16 Gray Jays and a Boreal Chickadee. Only ten finches spread among three species were present.

This post is the first of three reviewing the highlights of some of the recent Maine Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs). This count season spanned December 14 through January 5. We’ll concentrate on four mid-coast counts today.

The Pemaquid-Damariscotta  CBC had 69 species on January 3.The waterfowl included 682 Mallards, 596 Common Eiders and 12 other species. The two Barrow’s Goldeneyes were unusual for this area. Common Loons and Red-throated Loons were common along with Horned Grebes and Red-necked Grebes just off the rocky coastline. In the alcid or puffin family, 20 Razorbills joined the more common Black Guillemots.

Both cormorants were found: three Double-crested and 11 Great. Twenty Purple Sandpipers foraged on the intertidal rocks.

Hardy lingering birds from the summer and fall included a Belted Kingfisher, two American Kestrels, 63 Eastern Bluebirds and two Northern Mockingbirds.

The highlights for the six species of finches in this exceptional flight year were 62 Pine Grosbeaks, five White-winged Crossbills and 18 Common Redpolls.

The December 19 CBC for Thomaston-Rockland tallied 74 species. One of the highlights was the 17 species of waterfowl. Mallards and Buffleheads were most common, followed closely by Common Eiders and Canada Geese. Lingering waterfowl adding spice to the count were a Green-winged Teal, a Gadwall, an American Wigeon and a Ring-necked Duck.

Common Loons and Horned Grebes were widespread but Red-throated Loons (3) and Red-necked Grebes (6) were scarce.

Rockland is a reliable spot of American Coots in the fall and winter as long as freshwater lakes are open. Only seven appeared this year.

Six species of hawks appeared with the most notable being a Rough-legged Hawk.

This count had a phenomenal number of lingering species. Most of these birds will get pushed south before the teeth of the winter sets in. These ambitious birds included a Great Blue Heron, four Belted Kingfishers, three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, two Northern Flickers, 18 Eastern Bluebirds (they may overwinter), one Hermit Thrush, one Gray Catbird and a Yellow-breasted Chat. An excellent count for lingering birds!

The finch delights were spread over eight species with highlights of 80 Pine Grosbeaks, one Red Crossbill, four White-winged Crossbills, 123 Common Redpolls, one Pine Siskin and five Evening Grosbeaks.

The Blue Hill CBC on December 20 yielded a count of 64 species. Fifteen species of waterfowl were headed by 572 Mallards, 506 common eiders and 410 long-tailed ducks. Five Red-throated Loons, 65 Common Loons, 119 Horned Grebes and 32 Red-necked Grebes kept the waterfowl company.

Lingering birds included a Ring-billed Duck, a Great Blue Heron, a Northern Flicker and a Common Grackle.

Eight species of finches were found including 11 Pine Grosbeaks, four Red Crossbills, one White-winged Crossbill, 23 Common Redpolls and 20 Evening Grosbeaks.

We’ll make the short flight across Blue Hill Bay to Mt. Desert Island.  Their December 19 CBC produced a count of 69 species. This region is one of Maine’s best wintering areas for Common Eiders and the 935 eiders did not disappoint. The 714 Mallards weren’t too shabby either. Thirteen other waterfowl species were counted in. A singe Red-throated Loon was picked out from among the 135 Common Loons. Grebes were fairly conspicuous with 31 Horned Grebes and 49 Red-necked Grebes.

Double-crested Cormorants outnumbered Great Cormorants, 67 to 8. Generally, Double-crested Cormorant is our summer cormorant and Great Cormorant is our winter cormorant.

Purple Sandpipers were down a bit this year with only 18 found. The 31 Black Guillemots were the only member of the alcid family.

Birds that were dragging their feet before heading to more southerly, moderate wintering areas included a Belted Kingfisher, a Hermit Thrush and a Red-winged Blackbird.

Everyone is getting finches this winter. On MDI, the highlights were six Red Crossbills, five White-winged Crossbills, 14 Common Redpolls and seven Evening Grosbeaks.

Based on all four counts, there is a dearth of northern gulls (Glaucous and Iceland Gulls) this winter.Herb Wilson teaches ornithology and other biology courses at Colby College. He welcomes reader comments and questions at [email protected]        

It was just two years ago that Maine’s first Great Black Hawk was making itself at home in Deering Oak Parks in Portland. This rarity was a most cooperative bird, happily feeding on squirrels and rats while dozens of fascinated people watched it. The bird perished from the cold the following January but it’s visit is commemorated with a sculpture, unveiled in July.

As of this writing (January 27), we have another rarity in Maine that is as cooperative as the Great Black Hawk. On November 27, Diana Onacki photographed a wren through the window of Jackie Too’s Restaurant in Ogunquit. The wren was confirmed as a Rock Wren. The only other Maine record of this western vagrant was a one-day wonder in October, 2013 in Trescott.

The Ogunquit Rock Wren has been very reliable, often hopping among the rocks rimming the shore of Perkins Cove. Most birders that have sought the bird have been successful, often finding the bird within minutes of arrival.

I feared that the northeasters in December would deal a fatal blow to the rock wren but it is doing fine, continuing to put on a show for birders.

Rock Wrens are found in the western half of North America from the extreme southern portions of the Canadian provinces south into Mexico. They like rocky areas, like talus slopes of mountains.

Maine Winter Bird Atlas

The Maine Bird Atlas Project is over half done. We just completed the third of five years of the breeding season. The project also has a winter bird component, the Winter Bird Atlas.

You may be wondering why a Winter Bird Atlas project is needed since we have data from the National Audubon Christmas Bird Count (CBC) for over 100 years for some counts. The CBC data have two important limitations. The counts are done in the early part of the winter so we have no systematic assessment of winter bird presence from mid-January until the end of winter. Also, the CBC count-circles are not distributed evenly across the state. Most counts are done in areas where human population density is highest. The southwestern coast is sampled well while much of the northern half of the state is virtually uncovered.

Here’s the way the Winter Atlas project works. The state is divided into blocks, each 1/6 of a US Topo quadrangle. There are 4,246 blocks in the state. Each is roughly three miles square.

Currently about 10% of the blocks are completed for the winter atlas. Our goal is to get to 17% this winter. This is where you come in; we need your help.

Completion of a block is not particularly onerous. We need a minimum of three hours of birding in early winter (December 14 – January 31) and three hours in the late winter (February 1 – March 15). Those hours should be allocated among the different habitats in a block. In other words, you can’t do your six hours of birding by only watching your feeders from the comfort of your home.

As an example, I completed a block just west of Waterville last winter. The area had four habitat types: agricultural land, housing developments, a stream and some coniferous forest. I made sure I sampled each habitat well.

Once you do a census in your sector, you just enter your data into eBird and you are done. The Maine Bird Atlas people will add your data to the block.

Unlike with the Breeding Bird Atlas, we do not have Priority Blocks. Any block is fine. To find a block near you, check out this map: https://bit.ly/38ghIbV

Find a block near you that has a light fill (completed blocks have a gray fill). Click on it and click the right arrow in the upper right to see how many hours have already been recorded for that block ad a spreadsheet with species to date. Then, go winter atlasing.

In today’s column, we’ll continue our exploration of changes in the Maine bird fauna as we celebrate this bicentennial year of our state. Let’s start with some mega-rarities.Intentional flights, faulty navigation skills and storms can all take birds to unexpected places. Here are some birds that have only once occurred in Maine in our 200-year history.

In November of 1979, a flycatcher with dense streaking appeared at Biddeford Pool. The bird was first identified as a Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (now called Streaked Flycatcher), a non-migratory species found in southeastern Arizona and further south.  Further analysis showed the bird was actually a South American bird, a Variegated Flycatcher. This species nests broadly across South America and the most southerly populations migrate north in the austral spring (October to November) to nest in equatorial areas. The one that showed up in Maine overshot by a lot.

Shorebirds are among the strongest migratory birds so finding out-of-place shorebirds is expected from time to time. How about these Maine records? A Common Ringed Plover in Lubec, a European Golden-plover in Scarborough, a Bar-tailed Godwit at Pine Point and  a Gray-tailed Tattler flying past Matinicus Rock (all four  Eurasian species) and a Surfbird (a Pacific coast species) in Biddeford Pool. A Great Knot on Seal Island was certainly jaw-dropping for a species from northeastern Russia.

Roseate Spoonbills occur commonly in the southern half of coastal Florida. One might expect Maine’s first to show up at a site like Scarborough Marsh. But no, our only record is a bird at a small pond in Dover-Foxcroft.

Kirtland’s Warbler is a rare species with a current population of about 2,300 pairs. They nest in jack pine forests in northern Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario and winter in the Bahamas. What are the odds of finding one on the Kennebunk Plains in late May? Pretty slim but it happened.

Eye-popping records of songbirds include a Violet-green Swallow on Mount Desert Island (a western species) and a Fieldfare in Newcastle (a Eurasian species). A remarkable hummingbird record was the  Mexican Violet-ear on Mount Desert Island .

Finally, birds of prey from distant places have appeared in Maine. A Crested Caracara (Florida is the closest source population) showed up in Kennebec County. Our most famous rarity has to be the Great Black Hawk (a Central and South American species) that appeared briefly in the Biddeford area in August of 2018 and spent much of the fall and early winter in a park in Portland. Hundreds of birders, including many out-of-staters, came to Portland to add the species to their North American life list. Sadly, the hawk did not survive the winter.

These rare birds excite us and inspire awe. But let’s switch to our common birds and examine how their numbers have changed over Maine’s history.

We can start with the House Finch, a regular feeder bird, that was not found in Maine until the early 1970s. This species is common in the western half of the United States. These birds were sold illegally in the east as cage birds (called Hollywood finches). Hearing of a possible raid by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agents, a few finches were released in New York City in 1939. They readily established themselves and spread from Florida to the southern parts of eastern Canadian provinces They have spread west, almost meeting the eastern range of the original population.

House Finch numbers grew rapidly until 1994 when a lethal disease, avian conjunctivitis, caused numbers to plummet. House Finch numbers rose again but have not reached their former abundance.

We have a suite of species that have increased substantially in the past 50 years or so. The explanations are surely manifold but include climate change, population increases to our south forcing dispersal and changes in habitat. We’ll look at some of these species in the last column of this series.

 

 

While the United States was plunged into bitter cold by the polar vortex in January, my wife and I were enjoying the sun in Mexico on the Yucatán peninsula, along with four friends from South Carolina. The six of us had gone down to visit a number of old friends that we had not seen since August or September. In our travels, we made a lot of new friends as well. Of course, all of these friends were feathered.

I’ll just describe a portion of our birding adventure to give a flavor of Yucatán birding. Rio Lagartos is a well-known birding hotspot in the Yucatán so we made our way to this small coastal village west of Cancún. We procured the services of Diego Nuñez, the proprietor of Rio Lagartos Birding Adventures in advance (http://www.riolagartosnaturetours.com/birding.html),

Diego owns a restaurant and a small lodge so all our needs were met there.

We arrived late in the afternoon on a Saturday and went to the deck of the restaurant to relax. Diego has 15 hummingbird feeders set up on the deck. The first hummer we saw was indeed an old friend, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.  Over the course of the next hour we also had great looks at Cinnamon Hummingbirds, Canivet’s Emerald, White-breasted Emeralds and Mexican Sheartails. The sheartails were particularly striking with large orange spots on their tail feathers.

Our backs were to the Rio Lagartos as we watched the hummers. We were surprised to finally turn around to look over the river  and saw about 100 American Flamingos on the far side, settling down into shallow water to spend the night. Spectacular!

We met Diego early the next morning for a five-hour land bird excursion. Diego brought his eagle-eyed daughter, Andrea, along as well.

The first birds at our initial stop were wintering migrants: a pair of Indigo Buntings, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats.

Several vultures were flying overhead

with their wings held in a shallow V. No, not Turkey Vultures but Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures, a new species for both of us.

The morning continued in this fashion, encountering familiar wintering birds and unfamiliar Mexican residents. This region of the Yucatán is largely scrub vegetation with scattered pockets of trees here and there. Diego knows the area like the back of his hand so stops we made were always productive.

A small pond had more old friends including 20 Blue-winged Teal, 10 Least Sandpipers and two Common Gallinules. A Sora called from the surrounding marsh but remained hidden. However, a larger rail, the Russet-naped Wood-Rail did give us superb views. Several long-toed Northern Jacanas were delightful.

A trip through a small farming community produced a couple of Turquoise-browed Motmots with electric green plumage and racket-shaped tail feathers. We definitely knew we weren’t in Maine. Bronzed Cowbirds and Scrub Euphonias, a type of finch, appear as well. At one point, five species of orioles were present at one site, a riot of yellow and orange.

We had great looks at some of the birds endemic to the Yucatan Peninsula including Yucatán Woodpecker, Yucatán Flycatcher and Yucatán Wren. We had great looks at a Laughing Falcon and a White-tailed Hawk.

Diego saved the best stops for last. As we neared town, we visited a couple of small embayments. At the first, we had views of flamingos and Black-necked Stilts from no more than 50 feet.

A second stop along a mangrove stand held many roosting birds including White Ibises, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills and a Black-crowned Night Heron.

The highlight was two Boat-billed Herons, similar to the Black-crowned but with a massive bill. A great end to a satisfying morning of birding.

We saw 83 species on our morning trip. We renewed friendships with a number of species and look forward to seeing many of them again in the summer here in Maine.