34 Winter Birds in Maine

In Maine, winter isn't a season so much as a lifestyle choice (one I admire from a heated car with the binoculars resting on the dashboard). Maine winter birds don't get the luxury of a heated car, yet plenty of them stay all season, and a surprising number fly in from Canada and the Arctic because, to them, Maine is the mild option.

The state bird is one of the ones that stays. The chickadee has been Maine's official state bird since 1927, and the Black-capped Chickadee is at feeders from the York County line to Aroostook all winter. The fine print is funnier: the law only says "chickadee," and Maine has two species of them. In 2019, a legislative committee was asked to pick one and politely declined, which is the most Maine way to settle anything.

Types of Winter Birds in Maine

There are 3 types of winter birds in Maine on this list:

Resident Maine Birds – species that live here year-round, even if some individuals shuffle south and others shuffle in from the north to replace them
Winter Migrants / Visitors – birds that breed farther north and spend the winter in Maine. A lot of them are sea ducks and shorebirds, so the rocky coast from Ogunquit to Lubec gets busy right when the summer people leave
Irruptive Species – birds that pour into Maine in big, unpredictable numbers some winters and barely show up in others, usually when seed and cone crops fail farther north

Each entry covers ID, male vs female, calls, where to find the bird in Maine, and what it eats at feeders if it visits them. The common birds in Maine backyards come first, in roughly the order they show up in Project FeederWatch's New England counts, followed by the north-woods specialists, the irruptive finches, the raptors and owls, and the sea ducks. If you're wondering why the warblers left without saying goodbye, here's where birds go in the winter.

1. Black-capped Chickadee

Family – Paridae
Species – Poecile atricapillus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird (Maine State Bird)

The Black-capped Chickadee is the chickadee most Mainers mean when they talk about the state bird, and it's the most widespread feeder bird in New England. It's a tiny omnivore that eats seeds, suet, and dormant insects, and it spends the fall hiding food in bark and lichen so it can come back for it in January. Feeders are only a small part of its diet. Most of its meals come from foraging around the neighborhood with its flock.

It has a black cap and bib, white cheeks, a gray back, and buffy sides. Males and females look the same.

The Black-capped Chickadee call is its name, chick-a-dee-dee-dee, and the more dee notes it tacks on, the more serious the threat it's warning about. On mild late-winter days you'll hear the sweet two-note fee-bee song, too.

It's found statewide in mixed woods, towns, and backyards, and it usually leads a little winter gang of nuthatches, titmice, and woodpeckers. Chickadees tend to hit a feeder all at once, like a carpool arriving.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, suet, shelled peanuts

2. Blue Jay

Family – Corvidae
Species – Cyanocitta cristata
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Blue Jay is a loud, smart corvid that eats acorns, beechnuts, seeds, and the odd insect. It caches nuts in the fall, so a good share of Maine's oak trees probably started as a jay's forgotten snack.

Males and females look alike, with a bright blue crest and back, white face and belly, and a black necklace. Males run a touch larger, but not in a way you'll notice from the kitchen window.

The Blue Jay call is a harsh jay-jay, plus soft whistles, a creaky pump-handle note, and a decent hawk impression that clears out the feeder. It's basically the hall monitor of the backyard.

Blue Jays live statewide in oak and beech woods, suburbs, and farm country, and they're one of the most reliable Maine backyard birds in winter.

Feeder favorites: peanuts in the shell, black oil sunflower, suet

3. Dark-eyed Junco

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Junco hyemalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird / Winter Migrant

The Dark-eyed Junco nests in Maine's conifer forests, and more arrive from Canada in late fall to spend the winter. Somewhere in Labrador, a junco is telling its friends Maine is lovely this time of year, and honestly, it's not wrong.

Maine's juncos are the "slate-colored" kind: gray above, white below, with a pale pink bill. Males are a darker, cleaner slate gray, while females are paler and washed with brown. Both flash bright white outer tail feathers when they flush.

The Dark-eyed Junco call is a sharp tick or smack, and flocks keep up a soft, twittery chatter. The song is a simple, musical trill.

Look for small flocks hopping on the ground under feeders, along woodland edges, and in brushy yards across the state.

Feeder favorites: white millet, cracked corn, sunflower chips scattered on the ground

4. Downy Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Dryobates pubescens
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Downy Woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker in Maine and works through the coldest months digging insects and larvae out of twigs, bark, and even goldenrod galls. It's light enough to hang off a weed stem, which is a skill I'd love to have when I'm reaching for the top shelf.

It's black and white with a white stripe down the back and a short, stubby bill. Males have a small red patch on the back of the head, and females don't.

The Downy Woodpecker call is a soft pik and a whinny that runs downhill in pitch.

Downies are statewide in woods, orchards, and backyards, and they'll find a suet cage fast.

Feeder favorites: suet, black oil sunflower, peanuts

5. White-breasted Nuthatch

Family – Sittidae
Species – Sitta carolinensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The White-breasted Nuthatch spends most of its day headfirst down a tree trunk. It wedges seeds and nuts into the bark and whacks them open, which is where "nuthatch" comes from, and it stashes food all through the fall.

It's blue-gray above with a white face and breast and a rusty patch under the tail. Males have a glossy black cap. Females usually have a grayer, duller cap.

The White-breasted Nuthatch call is a nasal yank-yank, deeper and less tinny than the Red-breasted Nuthatch.

It prefers deciduous woods, so it's most common in southern and central Maine, in parks, older neighborhoods, and yards with big hardwoods, usually tagging along with the chickadees.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

6. Mourning Dove

Family – Columbidae
Species – Zenaida macroura
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Mourning Dove stays in Maine through the winter, filling its crop with seeds at top speed and then flying off to digest somewhere quiet. If you've ever eaten lunch standing over the sink, you get it.

It's slim and soft gray-brown with black spots on the wings and a long, pointed tail. Males have a bluish crown and a faint pink blush on the breast, while females are a little browner and plainer.

The Mourning Dove call is a low, mournful coo-OO-oo-oo-oo, and the wings make a whistling twitter on takeoff.

Doves are most common in southern and central Maine, around farms, towns, and backyards with feeders, often in flocks on cold mornings.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn, black oil sunflower on a platform or the ground

7. Tufted Titmouse

Family – Paridae
Species – Baeolophus bicolor
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Tufted Titmouse is a fairly recent arrival in Maine. It's one of the southern birds that's been moving north into a warmer Maine, and now it's a regular in mixed chickadee flocks. It eats seeds, nuts, and insects and often grabs one seed at a time to eat somewhere private.

It's soft gray with a pointed crest, big black eyes, and peachy flanks. Males and females look the same.

The Tufted Titmouse song is a loud, whistled peter-peter-peter, and it scolds in a raspy, chickadee-ish voice.

Titmice are most common in southern and central Maine in oak woods, suburbs, and backyards, and they're thinner on the ground the farther north and east you go.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, peanuts, suet

8. American Goldfinch

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus tristis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The American Goldfinch sticks around all winter, but it trades its lemon-yellow summer look for olive-brown, so a lot of people think it left. It's a strict seed eater, working birch catkins, weedy fields, and tube feeders.

In winter, males keep a yellowish face and throat and black wings with crisp white bars. Females are duller and grayer, with buffier wing bars. Both have a small, pale, cone-shaped bill.

The American Goldfinch call is a bouncy po-ta-to-chip given on the up-and-down flight, plus a whiny rising note.

Goldfinches are statewide in winter, in flocks at feeders, weedy edges, and birch stands.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips, black oil sunflower

9. Northern Cardinal

Family – Cardinalidae
Species – Cardinalis cardinalis
Primary Activity Time – Dawn and Dusk
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Northern Cardinal used to be a rare sight in Maine and is now a backyard regular, especially in the south. Milder winters and backyard feeding have helped it push north, and around Acadia, Christmas Bird Count numbers for cardinals have risen steadily since the 1970s. It eats seeds, fruit, and the occasional insect.

Males are bright red with a black mask and crest. Females are warm tan with red edging on the wings, crest, and tail and the same thick orange bill.

The Northern Cardinal song is a loud, clear cheer-cheer-cheer or birdie-birdie-birdie, and its call is a sharp metallic chip. Both sexes sing.

Cardinals are most common in southern and coastal Maine in towns, thickets, and yards with dense shrubs, and they're still spreading north. They're usually the first bird at the feeder in the morning and the last at night. For tips on getting them to stick around, see Cardinals in Winter: Where They Go, What They Eat, and How to Attract Them.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, safflower, on a platform or a hopper

10. Hairy Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Dryobates villosus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Hairy Woodpecker is a Downy Woodpecker after a long gym phase. It digs beetle larvae out of bark more aggressively than its smaller lookalike and visits suet feeders all winter.

The easiest tell is the bill, which is nearly as long as the head (the Downy's is short and stubby). It's also noticeably bigger. Males have a red patch at the back of the head, and females don't.

The Hairy Woodpecker call is a loud, sharp peek, plus a rattling call that doesn't drop in pitch the way the Downy's whinny does.

Hairies live statewide in mature woods and wooded neighborhoods, and they're more at home in the big north woods than the Downy.

Feeder favorites: suet, black oil sunflower, peanuts

11. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Family – Sittidae
Species – Sitta canadensis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird / Irruptive Species

The Red-breasted Nuthatch nests in Maine's spruce and fir forests, and in winters when cone crops fail farther north, many more pour into Maine along with the irruptive finches. It pries seeds out of conifer cones and visits feeders for suet and peanuts.

It's small and stubby, blue-gray above with a rusty-orange belly and a black eye stripe under a white eyebrow. Males have a black cap and deeper orange underparts, while females have a grayer cap and a paler belly.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch call is a nasal yank-yank that sounds like a tiny tin horn, higher than the White-breasted Nuthatch.

Look for it statewide in conifer stands, especially spruce and fir, and at feeders near evergreens.

Feeder favorites: suet, shelled peanuts, black oil sunflower

12. American Tree Sparrow

Family – Passerellidae
Species – Spizelloides arborea
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The American Tree Sparrow breeds in the far north and comes to Maine for the winter, where it spends nearly all its time on the ground (the "tree" part is mostly branding). It eats weed and grass seeds in fields and under feeders.

Look for a rusty cap, a rusty line behind the eye, a gray face, a bill that's dark on top and yellow below, and a dark spot in the center of a plain gray breast. Males and females look alike.

The American Tree Sparrow call is a thin tseet, and flocks give a soft, musical twitter.

Tree sparrows are in weedy fields, farm edges, and brushy backyards, mostly in southern and central Maine. They're one of the species that's dropped in winter counts around Acadia, so a flock under your feeder is worth noticing.

Feeder favorites: millet, cracked corn scattered on the ground

13. American Robin

Family – Turdidae
Species – Turdus migratorius
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird / Winter Migrant

The American Robin surprises a lot of people in January. Some Maine robins head south, but robins from Canada move in to replace them, and they switch from worms to berries for the winter. More are wintering in Maine than in the past, thanks to milder winters and ornamental trees that hold their fruit.

Males have a deep brick-orange breast and a blackish head. Females are paler, with a grayer head and a softer orange breast.

In winter the American Robin call is mostly a low tuk-tuk and a sharp peek, not the full spring song.

Look for flocks in crabapples, winterberry, sumac, and other fruiting trees and shrubs, especially in southern and coastal Maine.

Feeder favorites: chopped apples, softened raisins, mealworms

14. Red-bellied Woodpecker

Family – Picidae
Species – Melanerpes carolinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird (mostly southern Maine)

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is another southern bird that's settled into Maine as winters have warmed. It eats acorns, nuts, fruit, and insects, and it stashes food in bark crevices for later.

Despite the name, the red belly is a faint pinkish blush you'll rarely see. The real field marks are the black-and-white barred back and the red on the head. Males have red from the bill all the way over the crown to the nape, while females have red only on the nape.

The Red-bellied Woodpecker call is a rolling kwirr or churr that carries a long way through bare woods.

It's most common in southern Maine and along the coast in mature hardwoods and suburbs, and it gets scarcer farther north.

Feeder favorites: suet, peanuts, black oil sunflower

15. American Crow

Family – Corvidae
Species – Corvus brachyrhynchos
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The American Crow stays local in winter, moving around only as far as it needs to for food. It's an omnivore that eats waste grain, carrion, scraps, and just about anything else, and crows gather in big communal roosts in towns at night.

It's all black, from bill to feet, with a squared-off tail. Males and females look alike.

The American Crow call is the classic caw-caw, plus clicks and rattles.

Crows are statewide, but most common in southern and central Maine around towns and farms. They're one of the species that's increased in winter counts around Acadia.

Feeder favorites: peanuts in the shell, cracked corn

16. Common Raven

Family – Corvidae
Species – Corvus corax
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Common Raven is the crow's bigger, more dramatic relative, and it handles cold better than almost any songbird. It scavenges carrion, raids food caches, and follows other predators to leftovers.

Next to a crow, it's larger, with a heavy bill, shaggy throat feathers, and a wedge-shaped tail in flight. Males and females look alike.

The Common Raven call is a deep, rolling croak, very different from a crow's caw, plus knocks, gurgles, and bell-like notes.

Ravens are statewide but most at home in the north woods, mountains, and along the rocky coast, often soaring and tumbling in pairs. If you hear a croak from the sky in the middle of nowhere, it's a raven.

17. Golden-crowned Kinglet

Family – Regulidae
Species – Regulus satrapa
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Golden-crowned Kinglet is a ping-pong ball with feathers, and it's the tiniest bird that can make it through a Maine winter. It gleans insect eggs and dormant insects off conifer needles all day long, which is how it survives nights that make me want to wear two hats.

It's olive-gray with a black-and-white striped face and a bright crown. Males have a flame-orange center in their yellow crown, while females have a plain yellow crown.

The Golden-crowned Kinglet call is a very high, thin tsee-tsee-tsee, often the first clue that a flock is in the spruces above you.

Look for it statewide in spruce, fir, and hemlock, often mixed in with chickadees. It doesn't visit feeders.

18. Boreal Chickadee

Family – Paridae
Species – Poecile hudsonicus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird (uncommon, northern and western spruce-fir forests)

The Boreal Chickadee is Maine's other chickadee, the brown-capped one the 1927 law may or may not mean. It lives in dense spruce-fir forest and caches seeds and insects in summer and fall to get through the winter. It's calmer than the Black-capped and rarely visits feeders in Maine.

It has a brown cap, brown flanks, a black bib, and grayish cheeks. Males and females look alike.

The Boreal Chickadee call is a hoarse, wheezy tschick-a-dee-dee, like a Black-capped Chickadee with a head cold.

It's still holding on in the mountains of Franklin County and in the north woods, but it's disappeared from much of its old range Down East and along the coast. Look in quiet spruce and fir stands, especially around the Rangeley Lakes region and Baxter State Park.

19. Redpoll

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Acanthis flammea
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

If your field guide lists Common and Hoary Redpolls separately, it's out of date. In 2024, the American Ornithological Society lumped them into one species, the Redpoll, which the birding world took about as calmly as a Red Sox trade. Redpolls breed in the Arctic and flood into Maine some winters, eating birch and alder seeds in big, restless flocks.

It's a small, streaky finch with a red cap and a black chin. Males have a rosy-pink wash on the breast, while females are streakier and lack the pink. Some birds are much frostier and paler than others, which is where the old "Hoary" name came from.

The Redpoll call is a dry, buzzy chit-chit-chit and a rising sweeee.

In flight years they turn up statewide at birches, weedy fields, and nyjer feeders, with the biggest flocks usually in northern and western Maine.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

20. Pine Siskin

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Spinus pinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird / Irruptive Species

The Pine Siskin nests in Maine's conifer forests, but its winter numbers swing wildly with the cone crop. It eats conifer, birch, and alder seeds and mobs feeders in irruption years.

It's a small, heavily streaked brown finch with a sharply pointed bill and yellow flashes in the wings and tail. Males tend to show more yellow than females, but plenty of birds are hard to sex.

The Pine Siskin call is a rising, buzzy zreeee, like someone slowly zipping a coat.

Look for flocks in spruce and fir stands, birches, and at feeders statewide, mixed in with goldfinches and redpolls.

Feeder favorites: nyjer, sunflower chips

21. Evening Grosbeak

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Coccothraustes vespertinus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The Evening Grosbeak is a chunky finch with a bill like a pair of pliers, built for cracking big seeds. Plenty of Mainers remember winters when flocks of them emptied feeders by lunchtime, but they've become much scarcer and less predictable than they were a few decades ago.

Males are mustard yellow with a dark head, a bright yellow eyebrow, and black wings with a big white patch. Females are silvery gray with a yellowish neck and black-and-white wings.

The Evening Grosbeak call is a loud, ringing peeer or cleer, and a flock sounds like a lot of very confident sparrows.

Irruption years bring them to the north woods and the western mountains, including the Rangeley Lakes region, and sometimes farther south to platform feeders.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower on a platform feeder

22. Pine Grosbeak

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Pinicola enucleator
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The Pine Grosbeak is a big, plump, slow-moving finch from the boreal forest, and in lean-food winters it wanders into Maine towns to strip crabapples and mountain ash. It also eats tree buds, seeds, and conifer needles, and it's famously tame (it will let you get uncomfortably close while it works through a crabapple).

It's grayish with a stubby black bill and white wing bars. Males are washed in pinkish red, while females and young birds are gray with a yellow or russet head and rump.

The Pine Grosbeak song is a rich, warbling whistle, and flocks call back and forth with soft, whistled notes.

In flight years, look for it in fruiting trees in towns, along roadsides near evergreen forest, and on coastal preserves.

Feeder favorites: black oil sunflower, hulled sunflower on a platform feeder

23. White-winged Crossbill

Family – Fringillidae
Species – Loxia leucoptera
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The White-winged Crossbill has a bill that looks like it lost an argument with a pair of pliers, and it works perfectly. The crossed tips pry open spruce and tamarack cones so the bird can lick out the seeds. Crossbills follow the cone crop wherever it is, and they'll even nest in midwinter if there's enough food.

Males are pinkish red with black wings and two bold white wing bars. Females are olive-gray with a yellowish wash and the same white wing bars.

The White-winged Crossbill call is a dry chut-chut, and the song is a long, rambling series of trills.

In good cone years, look for them in mature spruce and fir stands in the western mountains and north woods, including the Rangeley Lakes region. They also stop at roadsides to pick up grit.

24. Bohemian Waxwing

Family – Bombycillidae
Species – Bombycilla garrulus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Irruptive Species

The Bohemian Waxwing is the Cedar Waxwing's bigger, grayer northern cousin, and it travels in flocks that can clean out a fruit tree in an afternoon. It shows up in Maine in winters when fruit runs short farther north.

It's soft gray with a sleek crest, a black mask, rusty feathers under the tail, and white and yellow marks on the wings. The tail has a yellow tip. Males and females look alike.

The Bohemian Waxwing call is a high, buzzy trill, and a whole flock calling sounds like a room full of tiny dentist drills.

Look in towns with crabapples and mountain ash, and on coastal preserves, especially in northern and eastern Maine during flight years.

25. Snow Bunting

Family – Calcariidae
Species – Plectrophenax nivalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Snow Bunting comes down from the Arctic for the winter and forages for seeds on bare, windswept ground. Flocks can number in the hundreds and swirl over a field like a snow globe someone just shook.

In winter, both sexes are white below with warm tan on the head and back. Males show more white in the wings, while females are browner and streakier on the back.

The Snow Bunting call is a soft, rolling twitter and a short, buzzy tew in flight.

Look for flocks on beaches, dunes, and Down East blueberry barrens, plus farm fields with little snow cover.

26. Northern Shrike

Family – Laniidae
Species – Lanius borealis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (uncommon)

The Northern Shrike is a songbird that hunts like a hawk. It eats small birds and rodents and impales them on thorns or barbed wire to eat later, which is the kind of meal-prep that would get you uninvited from a potluck.

It's pale gray above and white below with a black mask and black wings and tail. Adults of both sexes look alike, while young birds are browner with faint barring.

The Northern Shrike call is a harsh, grating note, though it's often quiet in winter.

It's scarce, but Maine Audubon's birding guide points to Gray Meadow in Gray as a spot for wintering shrikes. Watch the tops of lone trees in open fields and meadows.

27. Bald Eagle

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Bald Eagle is a fish-eating raptor that also scavenges carrion and takes ducks, and in winter it gathers wherever there's open water.

Adults have a dark brown body, a white head and tail, and a big yellow bill. Males and females look alike, but females are bigger. Young eagles are mottled brown and white and take about five years to get their white heads.

The Bald Eagle call is a high, thin, giggly chatter that doesn't match the bird at all. Movie sound editors usually swap in a hawk scream instead.

Look along the coast, tidal rivers, and below dams where water stays open, plus around ice-fishing spots on big lakes.

28. Rough-legged Hawk

Family – Accipitridae
Species – Buteo lagopus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (uncommon)

The Rough-legged Hawk breeds in the Arctic and comes south for the winter to hunt voles and mice in open country. It hovers in place over fields more than most hawks, and its legs are feathered right down to the toes (very sensible footwear).

Light birds have dark patches at the bend of the wing. Females have a dark belly band and a single wide dark band near the tail tip, while males have more barring on the chest and several thin tail bands. There's also a dark form that's almost all black or brown.

Rough-legs are usually quiet in winter, giving an occasional mewing scream.

They're uncommon, so check open fields, marshes, and barrens. On the Schoodic Peninsula, Rough-legged Hawks hunt the north side of Schoodic Island in winter, and Maine Audubon's guide points to Route 191 between Machias and Lubec for wintering raptors.

29. Snowy Owl

Family – Strigidae
Species – Bubo scandiacus
Primary Activity Time – Dawn and Dusk (often active by day in winter)
Diurnal and Nocturnal
Irruptive Species

The Snowy Owl is a big Arctic owl that comes south in some winters, hunting rodents and waterbirds from low perches in open country. It's the bird that gets Maine birders out of bed early on a Saturday.

Adult males can be nearly pure white. Females and young birds are heavily barred with dark brown, so the "spotted" ones you see are usually not the old men of the species.

Snowy Owls are mostly silent in winter.

In flight years, look along the open coast, beaches, salt marshes, and airports. The Schoodic Institute recommends the Schoodic Auto Loop in irruption years, and coastal land-trust preserves get them too. Please give them space, since a flushed owl burns energy it can't spare.

30. Barred Owl

Family – Strigidae
Species – Strix varia
Primary Activity Time – Night
Nocturnal
Resident Maine Bird

The Barred Owl is Maine's most common big owl and seldom travels far from where it hatched. It eats mice, voles, and squirrels, and in snowy winters it sometimes hunts in daylight near backyard feeders, where the rodents are.

It's a big, round-headed owl with no ear tufts, brown-and-white bars across the chest, streaks down the belly, and dark eyes. Males and females look alike, though females are larger.

The Barred Owl call is the famous who-cooks-for-you, who-cooks-for-you-all, plus some hair-raising cackles that sound like a horror-movie monkey.

Barred Owls live statewide in mature mixed and hardwood forests, often near streams and swamps.

31. Common Eider

Family – Anatidae
Species – Somateria mollissima
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Resident Maine Bird / Winter Migrant

The Common Eider is the largest duck in the Northern Hemisphere and the original down comforter. It's off the Maine coast year-round, but it's most visible in winter, when flocks can number in the thousands. It dives for mussels and swallows them whole, then crushes the shells in its gizzard.

Males are white above and black below with a black cap and a pale green wash on the back of the head. Females are rich brown with fine black barring.

The Common Eider call is a soft, cooing ah-OOO from the males, which is a surprisingly romantic sound for a bird that eats shells.

Look along rocky shores and ledges, including the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm, Reid State Park, and Schoodic Point. It's also one of the sea ducks whose winter numbers have dropped around Acadia.

32. Long-tailed Duck

Family – Anatidae
Species – Clangula hyemalis
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Long-tailed Duck is an Arctic sea duck and one of the deepest-diving ducks there is, chasing small invertebrates and fish far below the surface. It spends the winter on the Maine coast, often in flocks well offshore.

Winter males are mostly white with a dark cheek patch, a dark chest, and two long, thin tail feathers. Females are brown and white with a dark crown and no long tail.

The Long-tailed Duck call is a loud, yodeling ow-owdle-ow that carries across the water on calm days.

Look for them off Frazer Point in the Schoodic section of Acadia, around East Point Sanctuary at Biddeford Pool, and along the coast from Ogunquit to Lubec, usually with a scope.

33. Harlequin Duck

Family – Anatidae
Species – Histrionicus histrionicus
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor (uncommon, rocky coast)

The Harlequin Duck is a small sea duck that winters in the roughest surf it can find, diving for crabs, snails, and other small invertebrates right where the waves break. It's the most dressed-up duck in the North Atlantic.

Males are slate blue with chestnut sides and bold white stripes and spots, like they were painted for a costume party. Females are dusky brown with white spots on the face.

The Harlequin Duck call is a high, squeaky whistle that sounds nothing like a duck.

Schoodic Point is one of the best places in the state to see them, and Quoddy Head State Park in Lubec is good too. Scan the white water along rocky points.

34. Purple Sandpiper

Family – Scolopacidae
Species – Calidris maritima
Primary Activity Time – Daytime
Diurnal
Winter Migrant / Visitor

The Purple Sandpiper is the toughest shorebird in Maine. While most sandpipers go south for the winter, this one flies in from the Arctic to spend it on wave-washed rocks, picking snails and other small invertebrates off the seaweed. It's about as purple as a gray hoodie in good lighting.

In winter, it's dark slate-gray and stocky with orange-yellow legs and an orange-yellow base to its drooping bill. Males and females look alike.

The Purple Sandpiper call is a soft, low note, and flocks are fairly quiet.

Look on rocky ledges and jetties along the coast, including Quoddy Head State Park, and at low tide around the rocks at Biddeford Pool and Schoodic. They're easy to miss until a wave flushes a whole flock.

Maine Winter Birds FAQ

What birds stay in Maine in the winter?

Year-round residents like the Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Northern Cardinal, and Barred Owl stay put. They're joined by winter visitors like American Tree Sparrows, Snow Buntings, Rough-legged Hawks, and sea ducks, plus irruptive finches and Snowy Owls in some years. If you're heading west, our guide to winter birds in New Hampshire covers the neighbors.

What are the most common birds of Maine at winter feeders?

In FeederWatch's New England counts, the top Maine backyard birds are the Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Downy Woodpecker, and White-breasted Nuthatch, followed by Mourning Doves, titmice, goldfinches, and cardinals. Almost all of them will come to black oil sunflower seed.

What is the state bird of Maine?

The chickadee, adopted in 1927. The law doesn't say which chickadee, and Maine has two: the Black-capped Chickadee, which is everywhere, and the Boreal Chickadee of the northern spruce woods. Both stay all winter.

Where is the best winter birding in Maine?

The coast. Schoodic Point and Frazer Point are great for sea ducks and Harlequins, Biddeford Pool and the Wells Reserve for eiders, scoters, and Brant, and Quoddy Head for Purple Sandpipers. Inland, the Rangeley Lakes region is the place to look for crossbills and other irruptive finches.

Are winter birds declining in Maine?

Some are. A Schoodic Institute study of Acadia's Christmas Bird Counts found a 43 percent drop in birds counted over the past 50 years, with Common Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, and American Tree Sparrows among the losers. Feeders are lovely, but they're not the fix. If we love watching birds, we have to live in a way that leaves them somewhere to live, starting with buying less plastic and protecting habitat, or there won't be much left to watch.

What do birds in Maine need most in winter?

High-fat food and open water. Black oil sunflower and suet cover most species, and millet on the ground brings in juncos and sparrows. Skip bread entirely, since it has almost no nutrition for birds. Once everything freezes, water is the hardest thing to find, so here's how to keep a bird bath from freezing in winter.

Spotted any birds of Maine this winter?

Share your sightings on the Sparkbird App, where you can swap notes with other Maine birders and find out who's driving to Schoodic this weekend.

And if your feeder spends all winter hosting nothing but chickadees, congratulations: you've been watching the state bird the whole time. Which one, the legislature still won't say.

Happy Birding.