AUGUSTA, Maine — Editor's note: The video above was originally published on April 3, 2023.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife announced eight new species have been added to Maine’s Endangered and Threatened Species List on Friday.
Five birds, one bat, one bee, and a beetle have been added to the list. Two of the species, the saltmarsh sparrow and Ashton’s cuckoo bumblebee are listed as “endangered,” and the other six as “threatened,” according to a news release.
These additions were approved by the Maine Legislature and became official on Oct. 25—90 days after the end of the last legislative session.
“Maine is known for its abundance of wildlife, but some species of wildlife are in danger of disappearing from Maine’s landscape,” Commissioner Judy Camuso of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife said. “The addition of these species to the state’s endangered and threatened list will provide additional protections which will aid in their recovery.”
Four of the species added to the list are threatened directly by climate change. The saltmarsh sparrow (endangered) breeds in coastal saltmarshes of south-central Maine and their nests are vulnerable to flooding during high tides that are associated with rising sea levels. The same goes for the margined tiger beetle (threatened), which relies on a small number of saltmarsh-sand dune areas.
The Bicknell’s thrush (threatened) and blackpoll warbler (threatened) both occupy high-elevation spruce-fir forests in central and western Maine, whose habitats are predicted to react to higher elevations, or possibly disappear altogether, according to the release.
Like many bat species across the county, the tri-colored bat (threatened) has seen a population decline due to White-Noise Syndrome—a disease that has caused over 90 percent of Maine’s hibernating bat species to dwindle, the release states.
The cliff swallow (threatened) and the bank swallow (threatened) are birds that eat flying insects. Over the past 50 years, their population has declined by more than 95 percent, due to a loss of habitat and declining insect populations.
According to the release, there are currently 57 species in Maine on the Threatened and Endangered List. Being on this list prompts extra protections for these creatures under the Maine Endangered Species Act, prohibiting collection from the wild, killing, injuring, or disrupting natural behavior, and other harmful activities that might cause extinction. In addition, Maine’s endangered and threatened species are prioritized for increased research and recovery efforts made by the MDIFW and other conservation partners.
For more information click here.
To view the list of endangered and threatened species in Maine, click here.