Acadia National Park

🇺🇸 United States

🦆 Loon Calls Across Acadia's Ponds
North Atlantic Coast, United States 577 spp. recorded

Acadia National Park is a rugged coastal reserve on the rocky Atlantic shore of Maine, where dense temperate forests of pine and spruce blanket granite ridges and shelter the coastline. Trails wind beneath evergreen canopies and along the edge of the sea, crossing forested hillsides and freshwater ponds.

44.302° N   68.374° W

Wildlife

SIGHTING PROBABILITY Share of citizen-science records from the park that report this species
<5%
Rare
5–15%
With luck
15–40%
Possible
40–70%
Likely
>70%
Very likely
ACTIVITY PATTERN
☀️ Diurnal 🌙 Nocturnal 🌅 Crepuscular ☀️🌙 Day & Night

Animal Events

🐋

Whale and Porpoise Season

JulAugSep

Summer feeding aggregation off Mount Desert Island — humpback whales and harbor porpoises in the waters off Bar Harbor and Schoodic.

🦭

Seal Haul-Out Season

JunJulAug

Summer haul-outs — groups of harbor and gray seals gather on rocky ledges at low tide along Acadia's coast.

🦅

Cadillac Mountain Hawk Watch

SepOct

Fall raptor migration — thousands of hawks, falcons, eagles and ospreys funnel past Cadillac Mountain each autumn, counted at the NPS Hawk Watch.

Sighting Calendar

Chance of spotting each species, month by month

Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Species Total
30–40
40–50
40–50
50–60
50–60
50–60
50–60
50–60
50–60
50–60
40–50
40–50
10–20
30–40
30–40
10–20
30–40
40–50
40–50
40–50
30–40
40–50
30–40
60–70
60–70
60–70
50–60
30–40
30–40
30–40
30–40
30–40
50–60
50–60
60–70
70–80
20–30
30–40
20–30
20–30
20–30
20–30
20–30
30–40
30–40
30–40
20–30
20–30
50–60
50–60
70–80
50–60
50–60
50–60
60–70
50–60
40–50
40–50
70–80
60–70
80–90
90–100
90–100
80–90
70–80
70–80
70–80
70–80
70–80
80–90
90–100
80–90
70–80
70–80
70–80
60–70
60–70
70–80
70–80
80–90
80–90
70–80
80–90
80–90
70–80
70–80
80–90
80–90
70–80
60–70
50–60
70–80
60–70
70–80
70–80
70–80
10–20
10–20
0–10
30–40
40–50
60–70
70–80
70–80
60–70
30–40
0–10
10–20
30–40
40–50
40–50
40–50
50–60
60–70
60–70
60–70
60–70
70–80
50–60
40–50
10–20
10–20
40–50
70–80
70–80
70–80
70–80
50–60
40–50
60–70
30–40
20–30
40–50
40–50
40–50
50–60
60–70
50–60
50–60
60–70
30–40
20–30
40–50
40–50
30–40
30–40
40–50
50–60
50–60
50–60
40–50
40–50
60–70
60–70
40–50
40–50
50–60
50–60
50–60
60–70
50–60
50–60
30–40
40–50
40–50
30–40
20–30
30–40
0–10
0–10
10–20
40–50
50–60
40–50
50–60
50–60
40–50
40–50
0–10
20–30
<5
<5
<5
10–20
40–50
50–60
50–60
70–80
70–80
70–80
30–40
10–20
0–10
10–20
30–40
60–70
60–70
60–70
50–60
30–40
20–30
30–40
20–30
10–20
Animal Events
🦅 Cadillac Mountain Hawk Watch
🐋 Whale and Porpoise Season
🦭 Seal Haul-Out Season
🐦 Warbler Migration

Sighting Zones

Warm areas are where all species together are recorded most, so they track where people go as much as where animals are. For one species, see the map on its own page.

0.0 ★★★★★ ★★★★★ Good
🦆 Loon Calls Across Acadia's Ponds

Where Wildlife Score

How good is this park for seeing wildlife?
🦜

Biodiversity

Very good

How rich is the wildlife?

4.3 Global avg
4.3 ★★★★★ ★★★★★
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds
440
🐒 Mammals
92
🦎 Reptiles
17
🐸 Amphibians
28
577 Total Species
841 Global average across 280 parks
34 Threatened 57 Endemic
🔭

Sighting

Good

How likely to see animals?

3.6 Global avg
3.1 ★★★★★ ★★★★★
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
62% Global avg
59%
📊
Coverage (140 species at ≥5% of 577 in the inventory)
24% Global avg
24%
🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (8 bird, 2 mammal, 1 amphibian, 1 reptile)
47% Global avg
69%
🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
132 Global avg
93
🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
14 Global avg
6
High-prob species (>40%)
26 Global avg
20
⚖️

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