Birding in New York City
Did you know New York City has some of the best hotspots for birding? With our focus on birds during the month of May inside The Nature Creative I decided my trip to NYC would be the perfect chance to try out birding in a large city.
The first thing I noticed as my sister and I trundled our suitcases down the sidewalks of Greenwich Village was the predominance of sparrows. We all think of pigeons as a NYC bird, but sparrows seem to be there in large numbers too.
New York City parks make it very obvious amongst the tall buildings and absence of much greenery where the best place is to be if you’re a bird. The Heather Gardens on the grounds of The Cloisters is a park I go to every visit. This time I spent several hours sitting in the park and watching on two separate occasions.
The Baltimore Oriole was one bird I was hoping to see this month and just as I crossed the street to enter the Heather Garden I heard a birdsong that was loud and unfamiliar. I still don’t recognize many bird songs, but if I hear something unique I try to at least look around and catch a glimpse of who made that noise. To my surprise it was a Baltimore Oriole! I saw him both days and tried to memorize his song.
For me birding isn’t just about finding live birds, it’s about noticing any place that birds show up — the fabric of dresses hanging in shop windows, on the covers of books in a gift shop, and this one: a life-size rendering of the wild turkey inside a James Audubon book on display at the New York City Central Library!
We visited the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and I was struck again by how much green space can be found inside the city limits. What bird could resist living near a bluebell wood? This is also where I noticed two flattened pigeon babies on the sidewalk across the street. The very harsh realities of life, especially life in a city.
Riding home on the bus Sunday afternoon my friends suddenly said, “Oh, this is the street where if you look there are lots of bird paintings on the shop doors.” Sure enough I looked out the bus window and began to spot birds painted on the outside of shops! How cool is that?
The mocking bird was a popular species in the Heather Garden. I watched this one bob around, sing, and even dart into an evergreen bush where perhaps it had a nest? The robins were also busy. From my perch on a shaded bench I could watch the pigeons going about their courtship behaviors, flying up and coming back to land and strut their iridescent feathers all afternoon.
These sparrows have covered the side of the subway entrance with their nests. Do they really like to nest this close to one another? Perhaps this is how birds live in NYC — in close proximity just like humans. They did make a racket as we walked by everyday, but I also found them to be a symbol of home-like happiness.
I came upon two nests in the Heather Gardens. I think perhaps they were both made by robins. This one above had mama robin sitting on the nest.
And this nest was poorly placed about 3 feet off the ground in a bush right on the busy public footpath through the garden. But, the babies had survived this long already.
Looking for birds in New York City proved to be a lovely theme that wove its way through my trip. Themes always help focus my attention and I think that means I end up noticing more in the long run.