Bird Ecology
![View of two people walking along a wooden boardwalk in Acadia National Park, with lush green trees surrounding them. The sun is shining and blue sky is visible through the tress.](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Great-Meadow-story-banner-CitSciMonth-Final-600x320.jpg)
Citizen science in the Great Meadow Wetland
by Catherine Schmitt and Seth Benz If you are rolling down the boardwalk of the Jesup Path this summer and […]
![An American Tree Sparrow perches on a branch while snow lightly falls around it.](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/atsp_Fyn_Kynd-600x320.jpeg)
The subtle beauty of a winter sparrow
story by Kyle Lima It’s a sunny day, and after being cooped up all winter you decide to get outside […]
![View of a female common eider afloat deep blue water, with ripples in foreground.](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/coei_female_Fyn_Kynd-600x320.jpeg)
Can we continue to call the Common Eider common?
story by Seth Benz In the Spring of 1991, I was working as an Audubon warden on an island near […]
![American tree sparrow sits on branches, with pale blue sky background](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/american_tree_sparrow_decrease_Kyle_Lima-600x320.jpg)
New research shows dramatic declines in Acadia National Park winter bird populations
WINTER HARBOR, MAINE – Acadia National Park’s winter bird populations have declined by nearly half since 1971, according to a […]
![](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/day3-1-600x320.jpg)
42 million birds and counting
by Seth Benz The migration of birds along the Downeast coast of Maine is spectacular. According to Birdcast, a collaborative […]
![Chickadees perch on the tips of spruce tree branches, silhouetted against a pale blue sky](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Chickadee-invasion-at-SP-600x320.jpg)
A banditry of chickadees
story + photos by Seth Benz A black-capped chickadee “irruption” is most noteworthy among the usual migrating birds counted at […]
![](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Sharp-shinned-hawk-at-Cad-600x320.jpg)
Sharp-shinned Rascals
In the September nor-westers also fly Hawks, sometimes in veritable companies. Evil little sharp-shinned rascals flap and sail through the […]
![a group of about fifteen people sitting on rocky ledge looking through binoculars](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/20220915_103306-1-600x320.jpg)
Cadillac Mountain Hawk Watch has begun!
by Seth Benz Hawk Watch started in late August, and sharp-shinned hawks are on the move! We added 411 to […]
![two long-legged birds at the water's edge](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/IMGP4758-600x320.jpg)
Late summer shorebirds
by Catherine Schmitt, Kyle Lima, & Seth Benz Shorebird migration is upon us, as the plovers, sandpipers, and other sand- […]
![](https://schoodicinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/female-cardinal-Benz-600x320.jpg)
What’s going on with the cardinals?
story + photos by Seth Benz Recently a summer resident of Winter Harbor wondered if something might be happening with […]