PBS NewsHour Interviews Holberton About Songbird Migration

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

April 2, 2015 Research, UMaine in the News

Rebecca Holberton, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Maine, spoke with PBS NewsHour for a report about the blackpoll warbler, a songbird that migrates from Canada to Puerto Rico without stopping. A team of researchers from Canada and the northeastern United States recently confirmed that the birds fly south over water as far as 1,700 hundred miles with no layover, according to the report. The blackpoll warblers population is declining at a rate of 6 percent per year, the report states. Holberton, who has been studying the birds for 20 years, said it wasn’t uncommon in the past to catch 300 blackpoll warblers in the fall, but now she’s lucky if she gets 30. To understand what’s causing the decline, the researchers hope to learn more about the bird’s life cycle and migratory patterns.