Maine eBird's missing species
As of the beginning of August, eBird’s database has records for 424 species in the state of Maine. Compare that total with the official state list of 445 species accepted by the Maine Bird Records Committee. We have, then, about 95% of Maine’s recorded species with at least one confirmed entry in eBird. Below we investigate the remaining 4.7% of species not yet entered into eBird for Maine. If you spot any birds on this list that you have seen in Maine, please get those records in eBird!
Before we dive into the “missing” species, you may notice a few discrepancies between the Maine Bird Records Committee state list and eBird’s state list. First, we’ve left out the known extinct species. Eskimo Curlew, Great Auk, and Passenger Pigeon are known to have occurred in Maine but never will again. Then there are a few species missing from the official Maine list that are in the eBird database: Trumpeter Swan is relegated to the hypothetical section of the records committee list, and that is based on a report prior to 1868 discussed by Ralph Palmer in his 1949 book, Maine Birds. A more recent occurrence of a one-eyed Trumpeter Swan at Fortunes Rocks in 2011 has not been reviewed by the committee yet. Due to unknown provenance and likely source from re-introduced stock, records committees in the Northeast (e.g. Connecticut) have treated Trumpeter Swan records as something different than natural vagrants or established introduced populations. Thus, they tend to list them separately. With a different focus, eBird asks observers to record these birds so that we can track how reintroduced populations are expanding and moving; thus, they are accepted in the eBird database. Monk Parakeet is a non-established exotic on the Maine committee’s list under the category “failed introduced species.” The few birds that temporarily attempted nesting in Maine are in eBird, however. Also missing from the official committee list are very recent first state records, for example Brewer’s Sparrow; we expect the Maine Bird Records Committee will add it to their list soon.
The List—Maine eBird’s missing species
Here we list the 19 species not yet recorded in the eBird database for Maine and provide a link to the Maine Bird Records Committee (ME-BRC) web site. Many are older historical occurrences, but some are of more recent records involving observers still active in Maine. It is never too late to submit a sighting. If you have any paper checklists that you think might contain records for one or more of these species, or if you know someone who might, now is the perfect time to get those sightings entered. We can also help connect volunteers with those old paper lists and get them entered into eBird. If you have such lists and would like help, please contact one of the volunteer reviewers working on Maine’s eBird data: Louis Bevier, Doug Hitchcox, or Bill Sheehan.
Green Violetear —> UPDATE February 22nd 2016: added to eBird – thank you!
Swainson’s Warbler —> UPDATE August 19 2014: added to eBird – thank you!
Kirtland’s Warbler —> UPDATE August 15 2014: added to eBird – thank you!
Black-throated Sparrow —> UPDATE February 22 2016: added to eBird – thank you!