Midcoast Audubon: The Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project with Logan Parker

The Mid-Coast Audubon‘s series of nature talks in partnership with the Camden Public Library continues on Thursday, April 17, at 6:30 PM for a presentation on nightjar monitoring efforts in Maine, with Maine Natural History Observatory ecologist Logan Parker.

This program will take place in person at the library and all are welcome. Light refreshments provided!

We will learn about the natural history of Maine’s nightjars (Eastern Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk), the threats they face, and how you can take part in exciting monitoring efforts through the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project.

The Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project is a multifaceted research effort working to support nightjar research in Maine and beyond. This project is comprised of both citizen science monitoring and intensive research efforts focused on nesting and movement ecology. It was launched in response to reports of widespread declines in Eastern Whip-poor-wills and Common Nighthawks throughout their eastern breeding ranges. Suspected declines in Maine evidenced by extensive anecdotal observations led to both the Eastern Whip-poor-will and Common Nighthawk being listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in 2016.

Logan Parker is an ecologist and the founder of the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project. In 2017, Logan initiated this grassroots, citizen-science driven effort when he first learned of declining nightjar populations in New England. He graduated from Unity College with a Masters in Sustainable Natural Resource Management focused on bird monitoring and conservation. In 2020, Logan co-founded the Global Nightjar Network to form partnerships with other nightjar monitoring efforts around the world. He recently supported the Maine Bird Atlas (2018 – 2022) by coordinating and participating the project’s special species projects. 

When not out looking for nightjars, Logan enjoys birding, wildlife photography, writing, gardening, reading, and working with his wife, Hallee, on their off-grid home in the woods of Waldo County, Maine.