2026/04/22 by Sejal V. Prachand, Ignacio Escalante · 1 voice
Environmental Science · #Marine animal studies overview #Turtle Biology and Conservation #Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
paper · doi:10.1080/15594491.2026.2646101
openalex publication_date 2026/04/22 · openalex created_date 2026/04/23 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/18
Anecdotal evidence and word-of-mouth information can illuminate shifting species occupancy, distributions, and seasonal timings; however, understanding distributional changes requires more comprehensive quantitative approaches. Community science datasets formalize and compile data, enabling the quantitative approach necessary to characterize changing species distributions. We analyzed 13 years of eBird data to characterize the establishment of a bird species (Fish Crow, Corvus ossifragus) with a recently reported range expansion into Maine, a state in the northeastern USA. We found that Fish Crows are restricted to patchy hotspots in southern and coastal Maine, with patches shrinking in geographic size and bird occurrence during the region’s cold winter season (November–February). Within-year fluctuations in occurrence, presumably due to migratory behavior, mirrored a more southern population of this species. These results show precisely where and when Fish Crows inhabit Maine, revealing heterogeneous spatial and temporal occupancy patterns that likely reflect the environmental drivers of the recent expansion. Therefore, we explored potential drivers and found that Fish Crows were observed more frequently in developed areas, less forested areas, and after warmer winters. Our analysis contributes to a growing body of work demonstrating the value of community science data to the study of changing species distributions.