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Documenting Van Cortlandt's bird diversity
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Located in the western part of the Bronx, Van Cortlandt Park is the third largest park in New York
City with an area of 1,146 acres. Incorporating vast
natural areas, this park provides habitat for both
migrating and breeding birds and was identified as an
Important Bird Area by the National Audubon Society.
This spring, NYC Audubon is guiding a Breeding and
Migrating Bird Census in Van Cortlandt Park,
supported by Audubon through a grant from the
Hudson River Estuary Program. This census offers a
great opportunity to learn more about the wild birds of
this magnificent park. Both the Eastern Screech Owl
and the Green Heron (pictured here) are suspected
breeders in the park and we hope this census will
confirm this assumption.
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© photo by Cal Vornberger
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NYC Audubon's bird census goal is to gather
information about the birds that pass through the park
during migration as well as pin-point the location of
birds that use this area for breeding. The data
collected will be compiled by NYC Audubon and
shared with the Parks Department in an effort to
develop a bird conservation management plan for Van
Cortlandt Park. This plan will be used to direct future
restoration and conservation efforts. This initiative is
also intended to foster a group of volunteers to serve
as ecological stewards for this natural area.
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The project was launched on May 4th and
will last until mid-July. All five census
sections are monitored by excellent
birders who committed to working for the
total length of the project. Up to 12 visits
will be carried out in each of the five study
sites as indicated on the map. Sessions
last from one to three hours, and include
identification of breeding and migrating
birds, using an approved census protocol.
If you would like to participate or just learn
more about this exciting project, we invite
you to please contact
Project Manager
Nicole Delacrétaz, at
ndelacretaz@nycaudubon.org,
or call us
at (212) 691-7483.
Click on the map to see the five different
sections. Please note that section 4 and 5
are closest to the subway
(end of 1 line)
and that section 4 doesn't have any trails.
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Do not hesitate to join in - this ongoing project needs your help. Groups are even
more successful at censusing because with more eyes and ears, it's easier to
spot the birds.
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