rusty patched bumble bee

BEE on the Lookout for the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee

Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is looking for the federally Endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee and we need more eyes!

gray treefrog

Mapping Maine’s Salamanders, Frogs, Turtles, and Snakes

Maine’s wildlife biologists rely on community members to share their observations, including you!

red-winged blackbird

Maine Bird Atlas Final Season

The Maine Bird Atlas is in the home stretch but there is a lot of work to be done in the final season! We’ll get there, block by block, but we need your help. This 5-year statewide project will guide Maine’s future bird conservation efforts, and every submission helps! 

2022 Season Kickoff Meeting

2022 Season Kickoff Meeting

On Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 6:30 pm (EDT) we’re kicking off the 5th and final season of the Maine Bird Atlas with an evening for Atlas volunteers to connect, strategize, get inspired, and hear all the latest atlas updates from the team of project coordinators!

New England cottontail release

New England Cottontails have returned to Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area!

MDIFW’s restoration efforts for the New England cottontail rabbits (a State Endangered species) is a multi-faceted approach.

""

Big Atlas Weekend – June 25-27

This exciting new event, Big Atlas Weekend, is a fun way for birders from across the state to document breeding birds and come together as a birding community. For many birds in the Northeast, breeding peaks in late June. It’s a great time to confirm breeding and fill gaps in the Maine Bird Atlas data.

2021 Season Kickoff Meeting

We’re kicking off the 2021 breeding season and 4th year of the Maine Bird Atlas with an evening volunteer extravaganza and you’re invited!

""

Winter Atlasing: App for Block Updates

There are lots of apps out there that can help your atlasing, but one we highly recommend for seeing Winter Atlas Results, and visualizing your location on the block map, is the ArcGIS Explorer app by ESRI. Here are a few simple steps for downloading and setting up the app for your winter atlasing efforts:

""

Beware of Block Boundaries

An important part of the Maine Bird Atlas is knowing which species are breeding or wintering in each atlas block. When you submit a checklist in eBird, you are either placing a pin on a map or, using the app, your location maybe automatically selected. It is important to review your locations to make sure birds are being reported in the blocks you actually saw them, not accidentally slipping into a nearby block because you were so close to the boundary. Here are a few tips to keep birds in their blocks: