Bird Nantucket Around the Year

By Ginger Andrews, Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Field Ornithologist

Birding here is an all-season, all-weather activity. Whether just a casual interest or chasing a rarity, there is always something to look for.

Spring brings endangered birds such as Piping Plover and American Oystercatchers. Shorebird migration is non-stop from mid-July to early November. Confusing Fall Warblers linger later here. Late autumn brings the winter ducks, alcids, northern gulls, and the occasional rare vagrant. Many stay until April, when picture shifts yet again.

Protected by more than a dozen different conservation organizations, Nantucket has great biodiversity. Beaches, dunes, marshes, flats, ponds, bogs, woods, and shrublands— none are more than 10 or 15 minutes away from each other.

Bird and nature walks are offered by the Maria Mitchell Association, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, and Nantucket Conservation Foundation, among others.

The Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is home to an extensive bird specimen collection named after Edith F. Andrews, former longtime curator and ornithologist for the organization. With over 1,300 bird specimens collected over 140 years, visitors are welcome to view the collection on Saturdays during the MMA’s Research Center Open Hours, or by appointment.