In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, the Natural Resources Council of Maine is partnering with Maine photographer Nathaniel Child on a blog and photography series to bring awareness to some of Maine’s threatened and endangered species and their habitat. Passing the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) would help state and wildlife Read More
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
An Act of Hope for Migratory Birds
North of us, darkening clouds stretched far into the sky. We could feel low rumbles of thunder vibrating through the warm, humid air, sending the ground into trembles. Having just stepped out from the grocery store, we hurried across the parking lot to reach the car before the impending torrential rains. We glanced up again Read More
Eroding a Bedrock Law: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
In 1918, the U.S. signed into law a piece of legislation that has shown incredible resilience over the past century. In the midst of the horrific tragedies of World War I and the Spanish Flu, a bright light shown through that resulted in the signing of the world’s first large-scale treaty among nations to protect Read More
Celebrating National Wild Bird Feeding Month
Millions of Americans – ourselves included – enjoy feeding and watching birds up close. In celebration of these fascinating creatures and the activity that provides us with an opportunity to get to know, February is National Wild Bird Feeding Month. We thought we’d celebrate it with members and supporters of the Natural Resources Council of Read More
Pine Siskins, Year of the Bird Ambassadors
As we near the end of the 2018 Year of the Bird celebration that commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the famed Migratory Bird Treaty and its implementing legislation in the U.S. and Canada, it is well that we think of the future of a bird like the Pine Siskin whose populations know no human political Read More
To Brazil and Back: Nighthawk Migration Revealed
Birders in Maine have recently begun noting the first pulses of southbound, migrating Common Nighthawks. In fact, staff at the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) could very well see one while leaving the office in Augusta after a long day! Based on checklists submitted to eBird, the online database housed at our old stomping Read More
Fur, Feathers, and Other Bird Nest Treasures
Our cats love to be groomed. This is a very good thing, especially this time of year when they both are shedding profusely. We, too, find it a satisfying experience: better to catch that fur with a comb than to see it plastered on the furniture and tumbling in clumps across the floor like tumbleweeds. Read More
Last of Their Kind in the Year of the Bird
Like many of you, we mourned the loss of the last male northern white rhino on Earth. His name was Sudan. Though he was named for the country where he was born, Sudan had spent most of his life in a zoo in the Czech Republic. While Sudan lived out his life thousands of miles Read More
Robin Hunting—and Eating—and the Year of the Bird
You may know that the early settlers to North America named the American Robins we know and love today. But did you know they also ate them? When the first European settlers saw the bird, they named the species “robin” based on the robins they knew back in Europe. That species, now called the European Read More
