Petit Manan Owl Monitoring Station
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Support Owl Research in Style! A fundraiser for the Petit Manan Point Owl Research Station From now until December 3rd,
Coyote Graphics is generously donating $5 for every Saw-whet Owl shirt and $10 from every Saw-whet Owl print they sell directly to MNHO and Project Owlnet's owl monitoring station on Petit Manan Point!
Now until December 3rd!
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Monitoring the migration of Northern Saw-whet and Long-eared Owls in Downeast Maine since 2015
Owl Monitoring in Maine
The Petit Manan owl migration station is a collaborative effort of Project Owlnet with Maine Natural History Observatory. David Brinker is the principal investigator. This station is one of many along the Eastern seaboard that tracks owls during fall migration. Project Owlnet has been facilitating communication, cooperation, and innovation among owl-migration researchers in North America and beyond since 1994.
Northern Saw-whet Owls
It is almost exclusively Northern Saw-whet owls that are observed at the Petit Manan Point station with the occasional Long-eared Owl. Saw-whets appear to be declining globally but more research is needed to understand the extent and causes of these population changes.
The Data
2021:
Around 35% of the owls were adults - typical for an off-peak season.
2020:
2020 exceeded our previous record for the most owls recorded! This big owl year was a result of a population boom in small mammal prey availability during the 2020 breeding season that was the result of a huge crop of fir and spruce cones across eastern boreal forests during 2019. When these large cone crops occur, the abundance of mice, primarily deer mice and red-back voles increases and fuels the production of large broods of young by breeding saw-whet owls. These large flight years occur every four to five years.
Red Pins: Owls banded elsewhere that were observed at the Petit Manan Point station.
Green Pins: Owls banded at the station that were observed elsewhere before 31 December.
Yellow Pins: Owls banded at the station that were observed elsewhere often more than a year later.
Volunteers
Contact glen@mainenaturalhistory.org If you are interested in volunteering at the station. Volunteers need to be willing to travel, stay up late, and commit to a regular schedule of volunteering during the month of October. We supply the owls - you supply the enthusiasm!
Learn More
Want to learn more about Maine owls? Check out the webinar by Observatory Ecologist, Logan Parker, on owl monitoring in Maine.
Brinker, David F., and Kevin M. Dodge. “Breeding Biology of the Northern Saw-Whet Owl in Maryland: First Nest Record and Associated Observations.” Maryland Birdlife , Maryland Ornithological Society, vol 49, no. 1-4, 1993, pp. 3-15
