Sponsor a Species for the Maine Bird Atlas

Looking for a last-minute gift for the nature lover in your life? Consider giving the gift of wildlife conservation by sponsoring a bird species through the Maine Bird Atlas!

The Maine Bird Atlas is an intensive effort being conducted by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in partnership with several of Maine’s leading nonprofit wildlife conservation and monitoring organizations to gather information about the distribution and abundance of Maine’s more than 200 breeding bird species. This is the largest, most comprehensive bird survey ever to be conducted in the state, and this is your opportunity to be a part of it.

By sponsoring a species, you are helping to support this landmark effort. Sponsor-a-species funds will be used to create a small grants program to provide incentives to volunteers, assist volunteers with travel expenses to survey remote areas of the state, and support specialty surveys of difficult to study species. These include alpine surveys for endemic montane birds like the Bicknell’s Thrush or moonlit surveys for the elusive Eastern Whip-poor-will. Your support helps ensure the project’s many hundreds of volunteers are equipped with the latest methods and resources to support their efforts to document birds throughout the entire state, from Kittery to Caribou and Andover to Eastport.

Maine has long been renowned for its wilderness and wildlife. However, threats like climate change, loss of habitat, and increased development have led to declining numbers in many of Maine’s treasured bird species. Supporting the Maine Bird Atlas by sponsoring a species will help ensure the success of the project and collection of information needed to conserve the states birds and safe guard their habitat for future generations.

You can sponsor your favorite species for between one and five years. There are several tiers of support, beginning at $30 a year. All sponsorships are tax deductible, come with a sponsorship certificate, and will earn you a place on the Sponsor-a-species website. 

Visit www.mainenaturalhistory.org/sponsor-a-species to get started!

 

Photo by Logan Parker