Species Lists and Project Reviews in Maine
Maine is the home of over 600 nesting pairs of bald eagles. Golden eagles nested in Maine until 1999, and they still occur during the breeding season and migrate through the State from their nesting areas in eastern Canada to wintering areas in the mid-Atlantic States. The bald eagle was removed from the Federal endangered species list in 2007 and from the Maine endangered species list in 2009. Both species are protected by the Federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act). The Eagle Act protects both bald and golden eagles from take and disturbance. Under some circumstances the Eagle Act may allow take of bald and golden eagles with a permit.
The bald eagle nesting (breeding) season in Maine is from February 1 through August 15.
Follow the steps below to determine if your project may be in the vicinity of a bald eagle nest and an Eagle Act permit may be necessary. At this time, we do not have site specific information related to golden eagle habitat use in Maine. If you have concerns about golden eagles, please contact the Maine Field Office.
Determine if your action area intersects within 660 feet of a bald eagle nest. Use the Maine Field Office's Bald Eagle Map Tool (Note: accessing this online ArcGIS tool may take a few minutes) that provides the locations of the known active bald eagle nests in Maine. Important: Not all eagle nests have been mapped in this database. You may know of eagle nests near your project action area that are not mapped. If you know of eagle nest locations within 660 feet of your project action area, include them in your species summary table. In some instances, eagle nest surveys may need to be completed; however, all surveys must be coordinated well in advance with the Maine Field Office to avoid unnecessary disturbance to nesting bald eagles.
1. If your action area is not within 660 feet from a bald eagle nest, add "bald eagle" to the species column under Step 2 and add "unlikely to disturb nesting bald eagles" to the column for Step 4 of the species summary table. Print the Maine Bald Eagle Map and add it to the project review package. Continue to Step 5.
2. If your action area is within 660 feet of a bald eagle nest, determine whether the proposed action may take or disturb the nesting eagles by following the steps in the Service's Region 5 bald eagle management guidelines. Provide the nest code (e.g., nest identifier BE214A) from the Maine Field Office's Bald Eagle Map Tool in the "Notes / Documentation" column of the species summary table.
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