January 26, 2017 at 11:25 am
By Sarah Spencer, Region C Wildlife Biologist
[caption id="attachment_2133" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Photo from Maine Coastal Island NWR[/caption]
Recently in Region C, we became aware of several dovekies which showed up on land in a period of 48 hours. If you aren’t familiar with what a dovekie is, think about their larger relatives the Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common murre, or black guillemot. They are all members of the family Alcidae and have black and white coloration in a variety of patterns often associated with this group of birds. The dovekie is the smallest of these birds viewable in Maine, weighing in at approximately 160-200g, or somewhere between a baseball and softball. They are only seen intermittently along the coast of Maine, primarily during winter months. Dovekies spend most of the year at sea and come to land only to raise young, which they do in the high arctic.
Based on this description of their life history, it’s no wonder we rarely see them, let alone come in contact with this interesting bird. We know of at least four of these birds which showed up in Washington County last week, but not in the water where we would expect to see them. Each of them was found on land by a member of the public, and one was even found in the town of Crawford, approximately 12 miles inland from the ocean at its closest point. The assumption is that each of these birds was blown off course during strong winds, a relatively normal occurrence here in the Gulf of Maine. The night before the At 12:50 am on January 11th, a weather buoy southeast of Jonesport recorded sustained wind speeds of over 40 mph, gusting to 53 mph. Though locally exciting and interesting, this event was nothing like one recorded in the winter of 1932-1933 further to our south, which “saw Dovekies raining down on the streets of New York City and large numbers washed up along the entire eastern seaboard, from Nova Scotia to Florida.” (https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/doveki).
[caption id="attachment_2132" align="aligncenter" width="960"]
Photo by Maine Coastal Islands NWR[/caption]
Two of the three dovekies found were transported to the ocean for release, one was taken to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and a fourth died prior to being received.
Keep your eyes open, you never know what you’ll find in the front yard when you grab the morning paper!
If you find a wild animal you suspect is in distress, please contact a Game Warden, Wildlife Biologist, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or your local Animal Control Officer for further instructions.
Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Contacts: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/aboutus/contactus.htm
Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/human/rehab.html
Photo from Maine Coastal Island NWR[/caption]
Recently in Region C, we became aware of several dovekies which showed up on land in a period of 48 hours. If you aren’t familiar with what a dovekie is, think about their larger relatives the Atlantic puffin, razorbill, common murre, or black guillemot. They are all members of the family Alcidae and have black and white coloration in a variety of patterns often associated with this group of birds. The dovekie is the smallest of these birds viewable in Maine, weighing in at approximately 160-200g, or somewhere between a baseball and softball. They are only seen intermittently along the coast of Maine, primarily during winter months. Dovekies spend most of the year at sea and come to land only to raise young, which they do in the high arctic.
Based on this description of their life history, it’s no wonder we rarely see them, let alone come in contact with this interesting bird. We know of at least four of these birds which showed up in Washington County last week, but not in the water where we would expect to see them. Each of them was found on land by a member of the public, and one was even found in the town of Crawford, approximately 12 miles inland from the ocean at its closest point. The assumption is that each of these birds was blown off course during strong winds, a relatively normal occurrence here in the Gulf of Maine. The night before the At 12:50 am on January 11th, a weather buoy southeast of Jonesport recorded sustained wind speeds of over 40 mph, gusting to 53 mph. Though locally exciting and interesting, this event was nothing like one recorded in the winter of 1932-1933 further to our south, which “saw Dovekies raining down on the streets of New York City and large numbers washed up along the entire eastern seaboard, from Nova Scotia to Florida.” (https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/doveki).
[caption id="attachment_2132" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Photo by Maine Coastal Islands NWR[/caption]
Two of the three dovekies found were transported to the ocean for release, one was taken to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and a fourth died prior to being received.
Keep your eyes open, you never know what you’ll find in the front yard when you grab the morning paper!
If you find a wild animal you suspect is in distress, please contact a Game Warden, Wildlife Biologist, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or your local Animal Control Officer for further instructions.
Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Contacts: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/aboutus/contactus.htm
Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators: http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/human/rehab.htmlCategories