Waves crash over the sea wall along Beach Avenue in Kennebunk on Monday. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
Last week’s storm that battered Maine produced strong winds that had a major impact on birds moving offshore. Most notable of those impacted was the dovekie, a small cousin of our more commonly known puffin. I want to highlight this event, and these birds, because one of the most common misconceptions around birds – especially sightings of unusual ones – is that there was some storm that blew them here. So let’s take a look at what factors actually blow birds off course and why.
This is especially front of mind because so many of the inquiries we received this fall asking “Where are the birds?” were incorrectly linked to the September tropical storm. That overhyped hurricane slowed significantly and went farther east than was predicted, so there was virtually no impact on the birds here in Maine from that storm. Even if the storm had made landfall with full-force winds, our birds are pretty well adapted for surviving that type of event.
First, birds essentially have built-in barometers, allowing them to sense a change in barometric pressure, so they can sense a bad storm coming well in advance. This is why you often see activity at your bird feeders increase the day before a big snowstorm hits. The timing of that September storm did perfectly line up near the peak migration of many of our summer residents, so their numbers were steadily declining already. But it was also a time when so many plants were producing fruit and seeds, resulting in birds feeding primarily on natural food instead of at our feeders. The September not-a-hurricane was a classic causation versus correlation example, where the timing of the aforementioned events was perfect but one didn’t cause the other.
Most of the birds that get blown off course by a hurricane-like storm are tropical birds that get stuck in the eye of the storm, or in the stronger winds in the northeast edge of the storm. Depending on the path of the storm, and the time of the year, these can be anything from southern terns (sooty or bridled terns) or one of the beautiful, elegant long-tailed tropicbirds. Some of these birds do get battered and are found grounded, but most are able to reorient once the winds let up, especially after the storm makes landfall. This is why birders love heading out during these potentially dangerous storms, as the best chance of seeing one of these rarities is right as the storm hits. We also encounter surfers trying to catch a monster wave, but they seem to get more respect (is that the right word?) since they have to go in the water.
Honestly, most of the headlines about a “rare bird blown off course” are wrong, or at least misleading. There are so many catalysts for vagrancy in birds, including genetic mutations that “tell” them to fly the wrong way, or associating with the wrong flock (typically how we see rare geese coming west from Greenland instead of going east), or even just naturally attempting to expand their range (both breeding or wintering ranges). It is easy to blame wind, but most birds are masters of flight and aren’t going to get blown so far out of their usual range.
That brings us to the storms like last week’s, which didn’t need hurricane-strength winds to have a major effect on a few birds. The National Weather Service in Gray reported that wind gusts reached 60 mph on Monday morning, coming from the southeast. With high winds blowing directly inshore, these are the types of storms that do have the potential to push seabirds ashore, which can be detrimental to their survival. Many of these birds find themselves injured or exhausted and unable to fly back to the ocean. Some species, most famously loons, are not capable of taking off from land because of how far back their legs are on their body (great for swimming, though) and become stranded.
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Dovekies were the most affected by last week’s storm, with dozens of them being found across Maine in the hours and days after the storm. These tiny alcids are known for having early winter strandings associated with storms, with one theory that the winds make feeding conditions unsuitable for them and they get pushed landward as they weaken. There is an account from the winter of 1932-33 when “Dovekies (were) raining down on the streets of New York City.”
Some of these storm-driven birds just need to be returned to the ocean, but we are also fortunate to have rehabbers in Maine that spring to action to help these birds. One heart-melting video was shared from the Center for Wildlife in York of 10 dovekies in a tub, recovering in their care while they were still dealing with power outages. Go check out their social media and you’ll see what I mean, then go to thecenterforwildlife.org/donate to support their work.
Do you have a nature question for Doug? Email questions to ask@maineaudubon.org and visit maineaudubon.org to learn more about birding, native plants, and programs and events focusing on Maine wildlife and habitat. Doug and other naturalists lead free bird walks on Thursday mornings, 8 to 10 a.m., at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Sanctuary in Falmouth.
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