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UNE Students Survey Birds For Land Trust
A University of New England class volunteered at the Scarborough Land Trust’s bioblitz to help advance a land conservation project.
When the Scarborough Land Trust was looking for assistance with a comprehensive survey of birds at a 30-acre parcel in southern Maine, they called University of New England Professor Noah Perlut, Ph.D., because they knew Perlut’s bird-banding class would get the job done — and include the public in the avian experience in the process.
“The students brought a lot of knowledge and excitement,” said Scott Kunkler, the land trust’s conservation director. “Noah and the students were great about including the kids in the bird identification, and also in the releasing of the birds. Kids got to touch the birds, hold them, and release them.”
What the UNE students got in return was a networking opportunity, the chance to educate the public, and the joy of seeing children delight in holding a wild bird. It never gets old, said Mollie Coyne (Environmental Studies, ’24).
“I came to volunteer because I might never again have the opportunity to hold a bird after this class, so I want to take advantage of every opportunity I get to do that,” said Coyne, who graduates in December. “Just being able to hold a bird and blow on a bird’s feathers, and then to see other people do it for the first time, it’s an amazing experience.”
Haley Hines (Animal Behavior, ’25), the UNE birding club president, checked out a UNE van so she could expose members of the club to this rare brush with wildlife. Hines most appreciated the chance to interact with naturalists, land trust directors, and professional biologists.
“It was a really great opportunity to network. As someone who wants a career as an ornithologist, that’s important,” Hines said.
Six of the 12 students in Perlut’s bird-banding class volunteered at the Oct. 5 event, called a bioblitz, to survey birds, while other naturalists tallied and cataloged the insects and plants that were found — including Joe Kunkel, a UNE research associate, who led volunteers in the insect identification.
As a result of the partnership, the land trust received a $24,000 Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund grant because the fund encourages partnerships with nonprofits, universities, and government agencies.
The students from Perlut’s course “Advanced Field Methods in Avian Ecology” banded birds this fall in the University’s forest twice a week for three hours shortly after dawn. While they were not required to attend the bioblitz, Perlut gave extra credit to those who did.
Kunkler said he knew the UNE class was a natural go-to for providing bird banders at the bioblitz not only because of their expertise in banding birds, but also because of their knowledge of wildlife and ability to share it. He’s witnessed it happen at local public forums where Perlut has presented his wildlife research alongside his students.
“Noah actively engages with the students and gets them involved,” Kunkler said. “At the Scarborough Public Safety Building, they gave a presentation on Noah’s project with wildlife cameras. The students did different parts of the presentation. It was very well attended. The room was filled.”
Conservation of the 30-acre wetland parcel located near Maine’s largest shopping mall is an important project for the land trust, Kunkler said, because it will help protect a section of the Nonesuch River, which drains into the largest contiguous salt marsh in Maine. That salt marsh, the Scarborough Marsh, boasts some of the largest diversity of wildlife in Maine, including some threatened and endangered species.
The fact that the relatively small wetland is located next door to an urban landscape offered an important lesson for the UNE students.
“They got to see that conservation happens everywhere,” said Perlut, the assistant academic director of UNE’s School of Marine and Environmental Programs.
Since 2011, Perlut has taught the bird-banding course every year in the fall. At that time, the students meet twice a week for two months shortly before dawn in the University's forest to check banding nets they set up to catch songbirds. The birds are measured and weighed, affixed with tiny, numbered leg bands, and released. Students use a birding guide to identify the species, then age and sex the birds, when possible. Perlut obtains the leg bands via his federal bird banding permit to help scientists study bird migration.
“From the first moment they’re in this class, the students are doing it,” Perlut said. “It is really in-depth ornithological research. But the goal is not to turn these students into ornithologists. It’s to get in-depth experience in scientific data collection.”
On any given day during the fall course, the students gather data on as many as 10 to 20 birds. By comparison, Perlut’s students who attended the bioblitz identified, including through banding, 29 species.
So, the Scarborough Land Trust’s event turned into a big birding day, as well as a worthwhile experience helping the public.
“I want to work in conservation law,” said Jake Tobin (Environmental Science, ’24), who also graduates in December. “It was great for me to get to talk with parents who brought kids who asked random questions. We got to share what we knew.”