10,000 Birds

MARCH 12, 2012

Disbelief probably seems like the proper response to the idea that there are woodpeckers in New York City. But even birders might be surprised to learn that eight species of woodpecker have graced New York City’s five boroughs with their presence! After all, woodpeckers peck on trees, not skyscrapers.

New York City 245

New York City New York Woodpeckers New Jersey 245

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2012

The Orange County / Rockland County border by the Hudson River, where Bear Mountain State Park, Harriman State Park, and the United States Military Academy all come together has the best variety of woodland breeding birds to be found within an hour of New York City.

New York City 176

New York City Kentucky United States New York 176

10,000 Birds

MAY 4, 2012

Just take a look at some of the pictures I digiscoped in the first two days of May to get an idea of how great a month May is in the Borough of Queens, New York City.

New York City 156

New York City New York 2009 Litter 156

10,000 Birds

APRIL 18, 2011

Seth Ausubel is one of the best birders in Queens, New York, and Corey is ever-so-thankful that Seth does not use eBird because that way Corey can pretend that he is the top lister in the borough. One of the least known stories of New York birding is the tale of the wild Mitred Parakeets. Are they breeding?

New York City 213

New York City New York Los Angeles South America 213

10,000 Birds

JULY 1, 2013

When I woke up, discombobulated and confused, I saw that I had a voicemail on my phone from Isaac Grant, a Staten Island birder doing a New York City big year. Then, having not managed to sleep much at all while I was on the plane, I fell asleep for several hours. Upland Sandpiper for 299! What will be bird 300?

New York City 135

New York City New York Birds California 135

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 29, 2012

As passerine migration peters out and thoughts turn to what birds will show up to stay the winter the only wood-warbler left in any numbers at all in the vicinity of my New York City home is the Yellow-rumped “Myrtle” Warbler.

New York City 106

New York City New York Breeding Birds 106

10,000 Birds

APRIL 17, 2012

In the New York City area the number and variety of sparrows a birder can see in mid-April is astounding. So what species, exactly, can a birder expect to see with reasonable effort in mid-April in New York City? Song Sparrow I hope this short primer on sparrows in and around New York City was helpful.

Sparrows 145

Sparrows New York City New York Fox 145

10,000 Birds

APRIL 29, 2014

All we do is complain about the lack of migrating birds so far and in New York City if southeast winds are blowing we are nearly despondent because southeast winds mean that the birds are moving north but the easterly component of the winds keep usually keep the bulk of birds to our west.

New York 221

New York United States New York City Breeding 221

10,000 Birds

MAY 26, 2014

Now that I live in New York City I rarely manage to make it that far north and when I do it tends to be winter, which is kind of odd. Montreal, while far to the north of New York City, is in Canada, which is certainly not the Adirondacks. Shows what I know about when birds breed. Wait, what?

New York City 161

New York City New York Canada Woodpeckers 161

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2015

Still, the bill passed in 1970 with only one voice in opposition: Assemblyman Posner of the Bronx, who pointed out that most New York City inhabitants had never seen an Eastern Bluebird, and probably never will. Today, there are over 22 million breeding Eastern Bluebirds, and they are an IUCN species of Least Concern!

New York 160

New York New York City United States Birds 160

10,000 Birds

JULY 21, 2014

I grew up in Whitestone, and though the birds were not around at that time, I love the fact that they decided to populate this particular area of New York City. According to a December 1970 article in the New York Times , there was a flock of 9 to 12 birds in Fort Tilden. Not in Whitestone, that came later.

Chicago 199

Chicago New York City New York Illinois 199

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 4, 2022

She offers up their historical scientific usefulness; ubiquitous presence in films; anatomy; diversity in breeds and appearance; relatives–from Dodo to Nicobar; and, in the longest chapter, their behavior, from cooing to wing clapping to riding the subway to courtship, nesting, and fledging. I will watch the pigeons of New York City.

2018 214

2018 New York City Birds Abandon 214

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2015

New Croton Dam, located just outside of New York City, is an enormous feat of construction. The New Croton cormorants were probably in the middle of migration, stopping in the large reservoir before moving farther north. Begun in 1892 and completed in 1906 , the dam is 301 feet high and 216 feet wide at its base.

New York City 160

New York City United States New York Canada 160

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 18, 2012

The Yellow-throated Warbler is a wood-warbler that breeds almost exclusively in the southeastern United States. In New York City we get them as migratory overshoots though they do stick around and attempt to find a mate on occasion (and there has been documented breeding of the species in the state).

Florida 172

Florida New York City Dominica United States 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 7, 2013

The former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch, was famous for his catchphrase, “ How’m I doing? But that’s not the case for many birds who live in or pass through the United States, a new report indicates. ” The answer to that question these days is, to put it bluntly, still dead.

New York City 157

New York City United States 2013 New York 157

10,000 Birds

JUNE 17, 2014

Yellow-throated Warblers are a rarity in New York State and as I mentioned earlier this year they are usually considered an “overshoot,” that is, a bird that usually breeds further south that occasionally flies past its breeding grounds during migration before realizing what it has done and turning around to go back to where it belongs.

New York City 184

New York City New York Breeders Breeding 184

10,000 Birds

MAY 12, 2017

Because the European Goldfinches presently found in New York are believed to all be escaped cage birds or, at best, a handful of their first-generation descendants. Over time, Pearson’s prediction proved accurate.

New York 104

New York New York City Illinois Wisconsin 104

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2014

It also makes sense, what with the black-on-yellow stripes and its pugnacious personality when it comes to defending both feeding areas and its breeding turf. It breeds across Canada’s boreal forest and most winter in the Caribbean, though some spend the cold months in Central America.

New York City 167

New York City Tigers New York Canada 167

10,000 Birds

MAY 19, 2013

His best bird, however, was a bit of a surprise – a Winter Wren in Queens on Friday, a very late bird for New York City. He heard another on breeding territory in Sullivan County on Sunday and wondered if the bird he saw Friday had made its way north. If only we could recognize birds as individuals!

New York City 153

New York City 2013 New York Birds 153

10,000 Birds

JULY 20, 2015

New York City in July provides limited opportunities for birders to see birds. I saw a Willow Flycatcher , several Northern Mockingbirds , and a bunch of Yellow Warblers. The wrens were a joy to watch, exploring, chattering, getting themselves into and out of trouble.

New York City 165

New York City New York Blackbirds Collecting 165

10,000 Birds

MAY 6, 2013

We New York birders should be awash in migrating wood-warblers, flycatchers, vireos, tanagers, and a host of other birds right now. Sure, the expected wood-warblers that overshoot their breeding range are showing up and even the occasional rarity has appeared, but this spring has largely been dreadful for we northeasterners.

New York City 179

New York City New York Breeders 2013 179

10,000 Birds

MAY 14, 2018

Third, Kirtland’s Warbler has only recently made the New York State checklist with two sightings in 2014. ( Even under gray skies and rain a Kirtland’s Warbler in New York City is an experience that no one who saw it will ever forget. One of which is documented here.

New York 109

New York New York City Michigan United States 109

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2016

New York City makes it clear that this isn’t quite correct. According to the data the authors gathered from banded and recovered Blue Jays , the species shows both a northward post-breeding dispersal (which we’re probably seeing right now, in September) and a southward migration.

Alabama 105

Alabama West Virginia New York City New York 105

10,000 Birds

JULY 15, 2014

Every spring, billions of migratory songbirds in Europe fly north to their breeding grounds. Second, and this is recent, new research indicates that Birds that migrate at night enter a state of sleepless mania and gorge on foods by day, behaviors mediated by their biological clocks. Giant Bats Snatch Birds from Night Sky.

Los Angeles 173

Los Angeles Bats Feral Cats New York City 173

10,000 Birds

MAY 25, 2013

We here in New York City (and in much of the northeastern United States) are dealing with a pretty major cold snap for late May, with temperatures last night falling down to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius). Strong wind and lots of rain has only added to the misery.

Suffering 180

Suffering New York City United States New York 180

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 24, 2012

It has been over two months since the Greater White-fronted Goose was found at Van Cortlandt Park in New York City’s northernmost borough, the Bronx. Despite my best efforts (and the assistance of Sibley ) I remain uncertain as to which population this individual comes from.

Geese 155

Geese New York City United States Canada 155

10,000 Birds

MAY 5, 2014

Every spring they totally steal the show in the northeast and you really can’t blame birders for abandoning their jobs, their families, and their sanity as they rush to New York City’s abundant and amazing parks to see the show live and in technicolor. … Birds migration New York City wood-warblers'

New York City 172

New York City New York Kentucky Abandon 172

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2012

Blame human intervention in the form of breeding programs so that there would be more to hunt. New York City has famously taken to catching and gassing Canada Geese so it is actually getting difficult to find decent-sized flocks of the birds in Brooklyn and Queens. That is really a shame. It’s not my fault!

Geese 162

Geese Canada New York City Birds 162

10,000 Birds

MAY 17, 2015

The mystery bird looked something like a male Blackpoll Warbler in alternate (breeding) plumage, but it was yellow and black instead of black and white. They also described a solid black cap all the way down to the bird’s eye, whereas the New York bird had a yellow arc over the eye and a contrasting eye line.

Minnesota 180

Minnesota New York City New York Baltimore 180

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

When you are a New York City-based birder that is pretty pleased with the amount of boxes ticked off on your New York State checklist you would normally want a rarity that you have not seen in the state to show up within an hour drive of your home. And I even got to work on time! … a.

New York 163

New York New York City Kazakhstan New Jersey 163

10,000 Birds

JUNE 12, 2017

Newburgh is a little over an hour north of New York City so I figured I could get a visit in to a few great locations for breeding birds that I hadn’t yet seen this year. This past Saturday, 10 June, I had to be at a meeting near Newburgh at 11 AM.

Wildlife 118

Wildlife New York Sparrows New York City 118

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 20, 2012

A surprise was a Common Merganser , a bird we don’t see much in New York City and especially not flying over the coast in Brooklyn. The best birds we came up with on our circuit of each island was Great Cormorants in breeding plumage, very nice birds to see but not the rare gulls for which we were hoping.

New York City 162

New York City New York Jamaica Seals 162

10,000 Birds

JANUARY 2, 2018

New York City apartments don’t allow feeders to be hung from fire escapes (though I know certain birders that skirt that rule), and it wasn’t until I had already been birding for four-and-a-half years that I obtained a small yard in central New Jersey in which I could place a feeder or two or three.

Birds 172

Birds New York City Squirrels New York 172

10,000 Birds

JULY 5, 2013

I’ve seen Yellow Warblers in the low shrubs of Western New York pastures, the river valleys of Missoula, and the trees of abandoned industrial sites in New York City. They are not shy, not given to skulking in dense underbrush or retreating to the crowns of great trees.

Connecticut 174

Connecticut Baltimore North America New York City 174

10,000 Birds

MAY 3, 2012

I was only recently introduced to the airport by a fellow Queens birder who will remain anonymous here mostly because the property is owned by New York City and one technically shouldn’t be there.

New York City 153

New York City New York Birds Homelessness 153

Animal Person

MARCH 27, 2009

In "Council Bozos Want to Ban Circus Animals in City" Ellis Henican ridicules the New York City Council for introducing a bill to ban the "display of wild or exotic animals for public entertainment or amusement." The elitist “animal-rights” zealots hate to admit this.

Circus Animals 100

Circus Animals New York City Elephants Zoos 100

10,000 Birds

JUNE 28, 2011

We took a family outing up to that same Storm King Art Center, which is located about an hour north of New York City in Mountainville, Orange County, last weekend and had an absolute blast. We also observed some evidence of other species breeding.

New York City 160

New York City Soreing New York Breeding 160