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After Project Puffin's successful restoration of Atlantic Puffins to Eastern Egg Rock in the early 1980's, it became clear that continued human presence on the island was necessary for the colonies to flourish. In the decades since Project Puffin began, the Seabird Institute has sent seabird scientists to seven field stations that support thirteen nesting seabird colonies in the Gulf of Maine.

While each island’s program is unique to the suite of birds nesting on the island and the available habitats, we emphasize a standardized approach to facilitate comparison of data across islands and years. The result is consistent, long-term data sets which allow us to better understand patterns and variations in a dynamic environment.

• Population Counts: Conducting both annual and periodic counts of nesting seabirds provide scientists with a snapshot of population level changes for designated species.
• Productivity and Chick Growth Studies: How many and how well do they do, are two of the basic questions asked or addressed by policy and bird conservation planning efforts. This work is a hands-on activity, focusing on study groups and involves the capture, banding, weighing, and measurement of chicks throughout the season.
• Survival and Movement: Perched on buckets and squeezed into 3x3x5’ blinds, researchers sit patiently, armed with spotting scopes, snacks, and datasheets reading band numbers of the birds attending each island colony. These data are incorporated into studies of movement, survival, and nest and mate fidelity for several species.
• Diet and Provisioning Studies: The data generated from our provisioning studies has provided valuable insight into the keystone prey species for Maine seabirds and has contributed to policy decisions for Gulf of Maine fisheries.
• GPS Tagging Studies: Data from GPS tagging studies tells scientists where birds find high-value prey and provides insights into seabirds migratory patterns. This information is used to inform fishery and off-shore energy managers of important bird areas. 

The seabird stewardship efforts in the Gulf of Maine occur in tandem with the Seabird Island Research Training Program.