Western Maine Audubon will host a virtual webinar “Nightjars in Maine” with Logan Parker is planned to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 9. Note this is a new date for this event, according to a news release from the Falmouth-based society.

A whip-poor-will. Photo by Logan Parker

Parker is an assistant ecologist and founder of the Maine Nightjar Monitoring Project. This statewide citizen science project is collecting observations of whip-poor-wills, nighthawks, and other nocturnal birds, some of which are facing widespread declines.

Attendees can learn about the natural history of Maine’s nightjars, cryptic and nocturnal birds that are more likely to be heard than seen, and the efforts involved in monitoring these birds throughout the state, from Eliot to Calais, Kennebunk to Baxter State Park. The project is recruiting volunteers to adopt monitoring routes or simply make observations of nightjars in your own backyard.

Parker resides with his wife in their off-grid cabin in the woods of central Maine. The life-long Mainer earned his master’s degree from Unity College, where he studied sustainable natural resource management with a focus on biodiversity conservation. He is a birder, naturalist, writer and wildlife photographer.

Parker also is working to support the second generation of the Maine Bird Atlas as a Special Species and Habitat Technician, conducting nocturnal, alpine, and winter bird surveys. He also is an ecologist for the Maine Natural History Observatory.

The webinar is free. To register, visit eventbrite.com/e/maine-nightjar-monitoring-webinar-tickets-103102101160.

Note: The May 9 annual warbler walk has been canceled because of COVID-19.

For more information, contact Nancy Knapp at 778-6285 or nknapp186@gmail.com.