Eastern Egg Rock Island
Encyclopedia
Eastern Egg Rock Island is an island in Knox County
, Maine
, United States
owned by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) off the southern Atlantic Coast of the state, where scientists from around the world study. The Audubon Society works on the island through a contract with the MDIFW.
.
to restore seabird colonies to the southern Maine area. Puffins, from Newfoundland
, and terns were reintroduced to the island. Puffins were longest gone; they had not been spotted on the island since 1885. Biologists from other countries joined the society to help coax the birds back to Maine islands and to control the population of the birds' predators. The techniques used for the restoration of the birds, such as playing recordings of puffin calls, were effective, and Kress wrote a children's book about the success of the project.
With the help of fish delivered to the island, 69 percent of Maine's roseate tern
s nested on Eastern Egg Rock by 2004. Now it is the southernmost point in North America
where puffins live. To protect the birds it is closed to visitors for the breeding season April through August.
Knox County, Maine
Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 39,736. Its county seat is Rockland. The county is named for American Revolutionary War general and Secretary of War Henry Knox, who lived in the county from 1795 until his death in 1806. The county was...
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
owned by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) off the southern Atlantic Coast of the state, where scientists from around the world study. The Audubon Society works on the island through a contract with the MDIFW.
Geography
The island is by the mouth of Maine's Muscongus Bay. It is treeless and is seven acres in size, about six miles off Pemaquid PointPemaquid Point Light
The Pemaquid Point Light Station is a historic U.S. lighthouse located in Bristol, Maine, at the tip of the Pemaquid Peninsula.-History:...
.
Project Puffin
In 1973 Stephen W. Kress from the Audubon Society started an act called Project PuffinProject Puffin
Dr. Stephen W. Kress of the National Audubon Society started Project Puffin in 1973 in an effort to learn how to restore puffins to historic nesting islands in the Gulf of Maine. At that time, literally all the puffin eggs in Maine were located on two small islands — Matinicus Rock and Machias Seal...
to restore seabird colonies to the southern Maine area. Puffins, from Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, and terns were reintroduced to the island. Puffins were longest gone; they had not been spotted on the island since 1885. Biologists from other countries joined the society to help coax the birds back to Maine islands and to control the population of the birds' predators. The techniques used for the restoration of the birds, such as playing recordings of puffin calls, were effective, and Kress wrote a children's book about the success of the project.
With the help of fish delivered to the island, 69 percent of Maine's roseate tern
Roseate Tern
The Roseate Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in bill colour and minor plumage details....
s nested on Eastern Egg Rock by 2004. Now it is the southernmost point in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
where puffins live. To protect the birds it is closed to visitors for the breeding season April through August.
Further reading
- For children: Kress, Stephen W. (1999). Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock. Gardiner, Maine: Tilbury House Publishers, ISBN 978-0-88448-170-6