Maine
Birding: The long and short of migrations from Maine
An American robin provides an ideal example of how not all migrations are the same the American robin. Some leave Maine and may only go as far as Massachusetts. Carlos Osorio/Associated Press
Humans have a propensity to organize, to put things into boxes. People who try to pigeon-hole nature often do not fare well with their efforts. I still remember the admonition of one of my biology professors who said that nature has not stake in being classified.
As this fall migration proceeds, we can see how our attempts to sort out different migration strategies may lead us astray. One dichotomy that is often used for migratory birds is to contrast long-distance with short-distance migrants. Usually, a North American long-distance migrant describes a species that moves south out of the continent to Central America, South America or the Caribbean islands. A host of our nesting birds fall into this category: ruby-throated hummingbirds migrating to Central America, red knots to Argentina and scarlet tanagers broadly across South America.
In contrast, short-distance migrants typically move south to areas with more clement winter weather but do not leave the continent. Some of our breeding birds, like the American robin, travel only short distances. Some may only go as far as Massachusetts. Other short-distance migrants like our yellow-rumped warblers may go as far as the coastal regions of the mid-Atlantic states. American tree sparrows nest on the taiga and high altitudes and migrate to Maine for our “mild” winters.
We can see the messiness of this system by comparing a short-distance migrant like Lincoln’s sparrow, which may winter in the Rio Grande Valley (that’s where I saw the species for the first time) with a long-distance migrant like the rose-breasted grosbeak that spends its winter in Mexico. Hardly a difference there in distance traveled.
Let’s compare that same grosbeak to another long-distance migrant, the arctic tern, some of which migrate from pole to pole every spring and fall. The differences in migration length are huge, but both are classified as long-distance migrants.
Another contribution to the inadequacy of our classification is the phenomenon of partial migration. Our field sparrows nesting in southern Maine head south to the Carolinas or beyond for the winter. The field sparrows that nest in North Carolina do not migrate so there is a mix of resident and migrant sparrows in the winter. It turns out that the resident sparrows outcompete the migrants and have a higher survivorship over the winter.
Blue jays are a local example showing partial migration. In some years, some but not all our blue jays migrate south in the fall. In years where oaks have high acorn production, the jays stick around to enjoy their favored food. In years where acorn production is meager, many jays move south.
American goldfinches, purple finches, red-breasted nuthatches and black-capped chickadees may show partial migration as well.
As surely as temperatures decrease as you travel toward higher latitudes, so does temperature fall as you climb a mountain. Altitudinal migration is an underappreciated yet common type of migration.
One can find information on most aspects of a bird species by consulting The Birds of North America. This work is a series of species accounts, each written by an expert or experts on that species, reviewing all that is known about a particular species. In a 2017 paper, Alice Boyle scoured the 603 species accounts for North American breeders in search of evidence for altitudinal migration. She found that altitudinal migration was reported for 163 species (27%).
As you might imagine, most of these species occur in the western part of North America where many of the Rocky Mountains, Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevadas are over twice as high as the tallest mountains we have.
Nevertheless, we do have altitudinal migrants in Maine. Here is a partial list: hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, northern flicker, Canada jay, brown creeper, house wren, dark-eyed junco, purple finch and evening grosbeak. These birds may only migrate a few miles as measured along the surface of the earth.
Just to add to the complexity, some species show partial altitudinal migration with some species sticking out the winter at high altitude and others descending where temperatures are more moderate.
What about really tall mountains? Using eBird records, researchers found that 70% of the 302 species that breed at high altitude in the Himalayas engaged in altitudinal migration. Who’s surprised?
Herb Wilson taught ornithology and other biology courses at Colby College. He welcomes reader comments and questions at whwilson@colby.edu
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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