It’s once again time for my annual Predictions Blog, where I view into my crystal binoculars and attempt to forecast some of the “new” birds to grace the State of Maine – and then my own personal state list – in the coming year.
But first, let’s look back at last year’s predictions.
It was a great year for birding in Maine, with rarities at every season, especially during a truly epic November Rarity season. As a snapshot of just how many notable species were in the state in 2025, consider Noah Gibb and Stacey Huth’s Maine Big Year total of 332 species broke the old record by an astounding 10! Surprisingly, with such an eventful year for rarities in the state, no new species were added to the state’s list in 2025. With that, I’m going to keep Next 25 Species to be found in Maine list the same, but based on current trends and regional sightings, I am doing a little shuffling at the top to bump up Limpkin as the northward mini-irruptions of this tropical/sub-tropical bird continue.
- Limpkin
- Scopoli’s Shearwater
- Neotropical Cormorant
- European Herring Gull
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- California Gull
- Gray Heron
- Bermuda Petrel
- Graylag Goose
- Little Stint
- Audubon’s Shearwater
- Common Shelduck
- Anna’s Hummingbird
- Heerman’s Gull
- Common Ground-Dove
- Allen’s Hummingbird
- Spotted Redshank
- Lewis’s Woodpecker
- Ross’s Gull
- Black-capped Petrel
- Lesser Nighthawk
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Painted Redstart
- Hooded Oriole
- White Wagtail
As for me, there were so many great birds seen in Maine in 2025, and the birds I chased just scratched the surface of the litany of vagrants this past calendar year as once again, my birding involves fewer and fewer chases each year. The MacGillivray’s Warbler in Yarmouth in November was one of the highlights – including becoming the 255th All-time Saturday Morning Birdwalk bird!- and a Fork-tailed Flycatcher in the Kennebunk Plains in July.
My first self-found rarity of the year was a Ruff at Walsh Preserve on 5/9…
..and Jeannette I chases the Northern Wheatear in Scarborough Marsh in September for a new ABA Area bird for her.
And shortly after successfully relocating a Bell’s Vireo on Monhegan (5th state record; found by Bill Thompson and Jess Bishop the day before), my group and I found the state’s 6th Black-throated Gray Warbler to cap off one of the best weekends on Monhegan in years! Add to that a record-shattering season at the Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch and two extraordinary flights at Sandy Point on 10/9 and 10/16, and I had an amazing year of birding in Maine.
but “just” an exceptional “Island Bird” for me.
I even added two species to my State List in 2025, starting with an overdue Cerulean Warbler (#11) found by Doug Hitchcox in Evergreen Cemetery on 5/6. But nothing beats a “self-found” rarity, so finding a Virginia’s Warbler (#20) on Peak’s Island on 11/24 was even more special!
Of course, a few potential State Birds got away from me last year. However, all appeared to be one-day wonders, so it’s hard to complain: Crested Caracara in Scarborough Marsh on 4/30, a Franklin’s Gull (some day!) in The County on 5/21, an Anhinga over South Portland on 5/27, and an un-chaseable Ancient Murrelet at Matincus Rock on 6/19.
So, with those hits and misses, my updated list of the Top 25 Next State Birds for Me is now:
- Franklin’s Gull (this is getting amusing/frustrating)
- Neotropic Cormorant
- Brown Pelican
- California Gull
- Brown Booby
- Crested Caracara
- Slaty-backed Gull
- Boreal Owl
- Calliope Hummingbird
- Graylag Goose
- Gull-billed Tern
- Pacific Golden-Plover
- Limpkin
- Wood Stork
- Black-chinned Hummingbird
- Brewer’s Blackbird
- Anhinga
- Yellow Rail
- Scopoli’s Shearwater
- Western Wood-Pewee
- Red-necked Stint
- European Herring Gull
- Gray Heron
- Heerman’s Gull
- Little Stint
Well there ya have it, let’s see what 2026 brings, at least when it comes to the birds in Maine.
Maine Birding Field Notes 