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.

blue-spotted salamander

Why did the Amphibian Cross the Road?

The short answer is, to get to the vernal pool! Of course, there’s more to it than that, so here’s a bit more about vernal pools and why many amphibians are now on the move.

removing fencing from the doe

Team Effort to Help a Doe in Peru

Recently, a doe was seen with a cable cinched around her waist. There was concern that the cable could continue to tighten and affect her survival so we tried to see if we could intervene. 

snowshoe hare

Signs of Spring

In Maine, March is the perfect time to start taking a moment here and there to notice the changing wildlife sights, sounds, and smells around you.

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Life as a Wildlife Biologist: Remote Camp, Finding Ovaries + Checking Moose

When MDIFW Moose Biologist Lee Kantar was organizing the adaptive unit moose hunt, I offered to staff one of the registration stations placed around the western half of Wildlife Management District 4. While discussing this work with my Californian parents, my father, a science teacher, thought that sounded like too much fun– he found a substitute teacher for the week, received his COVID-19 booster shot, and booked a flight to Maine to volunteer with me.

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Putting a Pause on Pregnancy

All wildlife have unique adaptations to ensure survival. From changing color with the seasons, flying a 2,500-mile migration, or having bodies that can tolerate freezing, most adaptations are nothing short of astonishing, and these extraordinary characteristics often mean life or death.

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Giving Thanks for Maine’s Healthy Wild Turkey Population

There was once a time when the state of Maine lost its wild turkey population. In the 1800s before hunting was regulated, turkeys were hunted to extirpation and the future of wild turkeys looked grim for some time. Beginning in the late 1970s, reintroduction efforts to our state began to take after decades of unsuccessful attempts. With their challenging comeback in both Maine and the United States, there are several reasons to be grateful for our currently healthy and widespread wild turkey population.

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Reflections

A few weeks ago, I was on Cape Cod for my niece’s wedding and Jeff and I had a morning free before we had to be at the ceremony. I suggested we visit Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, which was only about 20 mins away. We left the hotel before 7 and happily avoided the typical traffic one encounters on a Saturday in August on the Cape.