Acadia National Park

National Park · United States

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Photo © Christian Collins

Photo © Christian Collins — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Source: Wikimedia Commons

Where the Maine coast rises in granite cliffs and spruce-clad headlands, Acadia National Park unfolds across Mount Desert Island and its surrounding waters, a landscape carved by ancient glaciers into a mosaic of rocky peaks, coastal forests, and tidal shorelines. The park's temperate continental climate—cool, moist year-round with substantial precipitation distributed across all seasons—sustains dense woodlands of red spruce, fir, and birch that cloak the hills, while sphagnum-rich wetlands and stream valleys support their own distinct plant communities. Along the rocky intertidal zones and kelp forests lie the domain of seabirds and marine mammals; the deeper forests harbor small mammals, ground-nesting songbirds, and raptors that hunt the woodland edges and open meadows. Tidal currents and the Atlantic's cold embrace make these waters a rich feeding ground for seals, porpoises, and diving waterbirds that exploit the seasonal abundance of fish and crustaceans.

For wildlife observers, Acadia offers unmatched variety across a single, accessible landscape. Spring and early summer bring nesting seabirds to offshore ledges and woodland songbirds to the interior forests, while autumn migration transforms the park into a corridor for raptors and shorebirds moving south—particularly dramatic along exposed ridgelines where thermals concentrate birds of prey. Winter's shorter days and frequent overcast skies test patience but reward dedication, as cold-hardened forest residents become more conspicuous and maritime species concentrate in ice-free waters. The park's network of carriage roads and hiking trails, many ascending to windswept summits with sweeping views of the Atlantic, allows photographers to position themselves for clean backgrounds and directional light. Dawn and dusk along the rocky shore yield the best opportunities for seabird activity and the interplay of light across granite faces, while mid-elevation forests and wetland margins offer shelter and proximity for capturing smaller woodland residents against natural frames of spruce and lichen-covered stone.

Website nps.gov/acad

Bubo scandiacus

Branta canadensis

Anser caerulescens

Anas platyrhynchos

American Black Duck

Ring-necked Duck

Aythya collaris

Somateria mollissima

Melanitta perspicillata

White-winged Scoter

Melanitta deglandi

Melanitta americana

Long-tailed Duck

Clangula hyemalis

Bucephala albeola

Common Goldeneye

Bucephala clangula

Hooded Merganser

Lophodytes cucullatus

Common Merganser

Mergus merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Mergus serrator

Meleagris gallopavo

Bonasa umbellus

Common Nighthawk

Chordeiles minor

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Archilochus colubris

Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythropthalmus

Zenaida macroura

Red-necked Grebe

Podiceps grisegena

Charadrius vociferus

Semipalmated Plover

Charadrius semipalmatus

Hudsonian Whimbrel

Numenius hudsonicus

American Woodcock

Gallinago delicata

Red-necked Phalarope

Phalaropus lobatus

Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularius

Solitary Sandpiper

Tringa solitaria

Lesser Yellowlegs

Tringa flavipes

Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca

Purple Sandpiper

Calidris maritima

Baird's Sandpiper

Calidris bairdii

Least Sandpiper

Calidris minutilla

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Calidris pusilla

Sterna paradisaea

Bonaparte's Gull

Chroicocephalus philadelphia

Leucophaeus atricilla

Ring-billed Gull

Larus delawarensis

Great Black-backed Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

American Herring Gull

Larus smithsonianus

Long-tailed Jaeger

Stercorarius longicaudus

Pomarine Jaeger

Stercorarius pomarinus

Atlantic Puffin

Fratercula arctica

Thick-billed Murre

Red-throated Loon

Wilson's Storm Petrel

Oceanites oceanicus

Leach's Storm Petrel

Hydrobates leucorhous

Sooty Shearwater

Great Shearwater

Northern Gannet

Great Cormorant

Phalacrocorax carbo

Double-crested Cormorant

Nannopterum auritum

American Bittern

Botaurus lentiginosus

Great Blue Heron

Pandion haliaetus

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter striatus

Northern Harrier

Circus hudsonius

Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Broad-winged Hawk

Buteo platypterus

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Buteo jamaicensis

Great Horned Owl

Bubo virginianus

Belted Kingfisher

Megaceryle alcyon

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Melanerpes carolinus

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

Downy Woodpecker

Dryobates pubescens

Northern Flicker

Colaptes auratus

Pileated Woodpecker

Dryocopus pileatus

American Kestrel

Falco sparverius

Falco columbarius

Peregrine Falcon

Falco peregrinus

Sayornis phoebe

Eastern Wood Pewee

Contopus virens

Alder Flycatcher

Empidonax alnorum

Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus

Eastern Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

Great Crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus crinitus

Vireo olivaceus

Blue-headed Vireo

Vireo solitarius

Cyanocitta cristata

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Bohemian Waxwing

Bombycilla garrulus

Bombycilla cedrorum

Tufted Titmouse

Baeolophus bicolor

Black-capped Chickadee

Poecile atricapillus

Eremophila alpestris

Tachycineta bicolor

Hirundo rustica

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Corthylio calendula

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Regulus satrapa

Thryothorus ludovicianus

Troglodytes hiemalis

Northern House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

Blue-grey Gnatcatcher

Polioptila caerulea

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta canadensis

Certhia americana

Dumetella carolinensis

Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

Eastern Bluebird

Hylocichla mustelina

Swainson's Thrush

Catharus ustulatus

Catharus guttatus

Turdus migratorius

Passer domesticus

Anthus rubescens

Evening Grosbeak

Hesperiphona vespertina

Haemorhous mexicanus

Loxia curvirostra

Two-barred Crossbill

Loxia leucoptera

American Goldfinch

Plectrophenax nivalis

Chondestes grammacus

Clay-colored Sparrow

Spizella pallida

Red Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca

American Tree Sparrow

Spizelloides arborea

Dark-eyed Junco

White-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys

White-throated Sparrow

Zonotrichia albicollis

Savannah Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensis

Melospiza melodia

Melospiza georgiana

Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Baltimore Oriole

Icterus galbula

Red-winged Blackbird

Agelaius phoeniceus

Brown-headed Cowbird

Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

Quiscalus quiscula

Seiurus aurocapilla

Louisiana Waterthrush

Parkesia motacilla

Black-and-white Warbler

Mniotilta varia

Nashville Warbler

Leiothlypis ruficapilla

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

Northern Parula

Setophaga americana

Magnolia Warbler

Setophaga magnolia

Blackburnian Warbler

Setophaga fusca

American Yellow Warbler

Setophaga aestiva

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Setophaga pensylvanica

Blackpoll Warbler

Setophaga striata

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Setophaga caerulescens

Setophaga palmarum

Setophaga pinus

Setophaga coronata

Black-throated Green Warbler

Setophaga virens

Cardellina canadensis

Wilson's Warbler

Cardellina pusilla

Scarlet Tanager

Piranga olivacea

Western Tanager

Piranga ludoviciana

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Pheucticus ludovicianus

Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Dendrocygna autumnalis

Branta bernicla

Branta hutchinsii

Blue-winged Teal

Spatula discors

Northern Shoveler

Spatula clypeata

Mareca strepera

Eurasian Wigeon

Mareca penelope

American Wigeon

Mareca americana

Northern Pintail

Aythya americana

Somateria spectabilis

Histrionicus histrionicus

Barrow's Goldeneye

Bucephala islandica

Oxyura jamaicensis

Canachites canadensis

Common Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Antrostomus vociferus

Chaetura pelagica

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus

Rallus limicola

Porzana carolina

Common Gallinule

Gallinula galeata

Fulica americana

Purple Gallinule

Porphyrio martinica

Antigone canadensis

Pied-billed Grebe

Podilymbus podiceps

American Oystercatcher

Haematopus palliatus

Pluvialis squatarola

American Golden Plover

Pluvialis dominica

Upland Sandpiper

Bartramia longicauda

Hudsonian Godwit

Limosa haemastica

Long-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus scolopaceus

Short-billed Dowitcher

Limnodromus griseus

Phalaropus fulicarius

Tringa semipalmata

Ruddy Turnstone

Arenaria interpres

Calidris canutus

Stilt Sandpiper

Calidris himantopus

Calidris alpina

White-rumped Sandpiper

Calidris fuscicollis

Pectoral Sandpiper

Calidris melanotos

Hydroprogne caspia

Chlidonias niger

Sterna dougallii

Black-legged Kittiwake

Rissa tridactyla

Larus hyperboreus

Larus glaucoides

Parasitic Jaeger

Stercorarius parasiticus

Northern Fulmar

Fulmarus glacialis

Manx Shearwater

Puffinus puffinus

Plegadis falcinellus

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Nyctanassa violacea

Black-crowned Night Heron

Nycticorax nycticorax

Little Blue Heron

Egretta caerulea

Butorides virescens

Coragyps atratus

Swainson's Hawk

Buteo swainsoni

Rough-legged Buzzard

Northern Saw-whet Owl

Aegolius acadicus

Red-headed Woodpecker

Melanerpes erythrocephalus

Black-backed Woodpecker

Picoides arcticus

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Contopus cooperi

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Empidonax flaviventris

Willow Flycatcher

Empidonax traillii

Philadelphia Vireo

Vireo philadelphicus

Eastern Warbling Vireo

Yellow-throated Vireo

Vireo flavifrons

White-eyed Vireo

Northern Shrike

Lanius borealis

Perisoreus canadensis

Corvus ossifragus

Boreal Chickadee

Poecile hudsonicus

Riparia riparia

Violet-green Swallow

Tachycineta thalassina

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Stelgidopteryx serripennis

American Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon pyrrhonota

Petrochelidon fulva

Cistothorus palustris

Northern Mockingbird

Mimus polyglottos

Toxostoma rufum

Townsend's Solitaire

Myadestes townsendi

Grey-cheeked Thrush

Catharus minimus

Catharus fuscescens

Acanthis flammea

Lapland Longspur

Calcarius lapponicus

Spizella pusilla

Pooecetes gramineus

Nelson's Sparrow

Ammospiza nelsoni

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Ammospiza caudacuta

Lincoln's Sparrow

Melospiza lincolnii

Yellow-breasted Chat

Eastern Meadowlark

Sturnella magna

Icterus spurius

Worm-eating Warbler

Helmitheros vermivorum

Northern Waterthrush

Parkesia noveboracensis

Blue-winged Warbler

Vermivora cyanoptera

Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea

Tennessee Warbler

Leiothlypis peregrina

Orange-crowned Warbler

Leiothlypis celata

Mourning Warbler

Geothlypis philadelphia

Setophaga citrina

Cape May Warbler

Setophaga tigrina

Bay-breasted Warbler

Setophaga castanea

Yellow-throated Warbler

Setophaga dominica

Prairie Warbler

Setophaga discolor

Spiza americana

Passerina caerulea

Passerina cyanea

Eurasian Whimbrel

Numenius phaeopus

European Herring Gull

Larus argentatus

Western Kingbird

Tyrannus verticalis

Calamospiza melanocorys

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus

Mangrove Warbler

Setophaga petechia

Painted Bunting

Passerina ciris

Lepus americanus

North American Porcupine

Erethizon dorsatum

Northern Flying Squirrel

Glaucomys sabrinus

Eastern Gray Squirrel

Sciurus carolinensis

North American Red Squirrel

Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

Eastern Chipmunk

Tamias striatus

North American Beaver

Castor canadensis

Eastern Meadow Vole

Microtus pennsylvanicus

Southern Red-backed Vole

Clethrionomys gapperi

Ondatra zibethicus

White-footed Deermouse

Peromyscus leucopus

Eastern Deermouse

Peromyscus maniculatus

Northern Short-tailed Shrew

Blarina brevicauda

Star-nosed Mole

Condylura cristata

Little Brown Myotis

Myotis lucifugus

North American River Otter

Lontra canadensis

Northern Raccoon

Halichoerus grypus

American Black Bear

Ursus americanus

Common Minke Whale

Balaenoptera acutorostrata

White-tailed Deer

Odocoileus virginianus

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