Reference
How many bird species are in Maine?
Maine has 475 bird species on its official list (Maine Bird Records Committee, September 13, 2025), the 19th highest count of the 46 states with a verified count. It includes 3 extinct species, 7 introduced ones and 5 provisional species; unconfirmed records and hybrids are kept off the list.
Updated
Maine bird list at a glance
| Official count | 475 species |
|---|---|
| List’s date | September 13, 2025 |
| Kept by | Maine Bird Records Committee |
| Extinct | 3 species |
| Introduced | 7 species |
| Provisional | 5 species |
| Among US states | 19th highest of the 47 US lists (50 states and DC) with a verified count |
| Official list | Official List of Maine Birds |
What does Maine’s count include?
- 3 extinct species.
- 7 introduced species that now live wild.
- 5 species the committee lists as provisional.
- Not counted: unconfirmed records and hybrids, listed separately.
Why might you see a different number?
A state’s count is every species ever accepted on its official list, so a figure from another year, or one that counts something else, won’t match.
Every state’s list follows its own rules: see why the counts differ from state to state.
How do you count your own Maine list?
Your state list is every species you’ve seen in the state. If you log your sightings in eBird, it lets you filter your life list by place, a state included (eBird’s My eBird help page, updated March 28, 2025), and the data download you can ask for gives the state of every sighting: our guide shows how to download your own eBird data. On paper, count the species you’ve seen in Maine; what is a life list? explains how birders keep their lists.
If you’d like your whole life list in print, Birdfolio turns it into a hardcover book, each species beside a classic painting.
Maine’s state bird
Black-capped Chickadee
Maine’s state bird is the Black-capped Chickadee (officially, the “chickadee”), the state bird since 1927. Adopted by the Legislature of 1927. Maine names the chickadee; its Secretary of State’s page calls it the Black-capped Chickadee.
This picture is plate 353 of Audubon’s The Birds of America.
Source: State Bird: Chickadee (Maine Secretary of State Kids’ Page), read October 3, 2026. See the state birds of all 50 states, each with its painting.
Birding festivals in Maine
Our birding festivals calendar lists 3 in Maine, with dates from each festival’s own website:
- Downeast Spring Birding Festival, Trescott Township (Cobscook Bay): May 28–31, 2027
- Acadia Birding Festival, Southwest Harbor (Mount Desert Island): June 3–6, 2027
- Rangeley Birding Festival, Rangeley: June 10–13, 2027
In winter you can also join a Christmas Bird Count near you; our guide explains how.
More about bird counts
- How many bird species are in each state: all 50 states, DC and Canada, each from its official list.
- Bird lists of nearby states: New Hampshire.
- State birds of all 50 states, each with its classic painting.
- How many bird species are in the US and Canada, and how birders count them.
- Bird splits and lumps: when one species becomes two, state lists change too.