The Maine Bird Atlas was a five-year effort (2018-2022) to document the abundance and distribution of all of Maine’s breeding and wintering birds. By both scale and volume of data collected, it is most certainly the largest wildlife resource survey ever conducted in the state, creating an unparalleled data set and true vital signs check for Maine’s birds. By repeating and expanding on Maine’s first breeding bird atlas, conducted from 1978-1983, this project made it possible to assess how some of Maine’s bird communities have changed over time, while also creating a new baseline for future comparisons. This collective effort, powered by thousands of individuals, will help guide research, management, and conservation actions for generations to come. This work marks not an end, but a beginning. Join us for a sneak peek at key results while we wait for the book to hit the presses.
Adrienne Leppold, Ph.D., served as the Project Director for the Maine Bird Atlas, founding and launching the project and helping guide it to completion alongside her collaborators. This work was largely carried out in addition to her role as the state’s landbird specialist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife from 2016 through 2024. In that position, she coordinated research and conservation efforts for many priority species, including Rusty Blackbird and Bicknell’s Thrush and, utilizing Bird Atlas data, led the effort for the addition of five songbird species to Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species list in 2023. She is now working to build an online education platform focused on bird conservation, titled When There Were Birds.