How Can Weather Forecasts Help Us Save Birds?
category: CONSERVATIONGENERALURBAN AUDUBON
Migration is a particularly dangerous journey, and it’s estimated that collisions with windows kill up to one billion birds across North America annually. NYC Audubon scientists and partners have focused on this problem for decades. Now, new research on weather’s impact can make solutions more effective.
A Tale of Two Egrets
category: CONSERVATIONGENERALURBAN AUDUBONADVOCACY
For most of my life, I lived happily at Broad Channel, Queens, with the birds outside. Until 15 years ago, when the birds started coming inside. As I sat on my dock in 2009 looking out at Jamaica Bay, a beautiful white Great Egret landed at my house and soon, my new friend Egor the egret would stop by nearly every day for a snack.
2023 Christmas Bird Count Soars to New Heights
The 124th Annual Christmas Bird Count, which took place on December 17, 2023, was a historic one for NYC Audubon. Not only did we have a record 400 registered volunteer counters, but for the first time in the Count's history, a green roof was included in the festivities. Carol Peace Robins recounts the historic day at Hudson Yards.
Study Shows How Weather, Migration Intensity Affect Bird Collisions in New York City
category: CONSERVATIONENGAGEMENTADVOCACY
2023 Harbor Herons Report: A Q&A
category: CONSERVATIONGENERALADVOCACY
NYC Audubon’s annual Harbor Herons Nesting Survey has monitored and protected these birds since 1982. To get a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s data collection, NYC Audubon sat down with Tod Winston, our Urban Biodiversity Specialist and creator of the 2023 State of the Harbor Herons, and Dr. Shannon Curley, PhD, our Harbor Herons Nesting Survey Coordinator.
Syrinx Spotlight: PSF Volunteer, Photographer & High-School Senior Winston Qin
Winston Qin is a gifted photographer, an aspiring engineer, a lifelong bird enthusiast, a Project Safe Flight volunteer… and a high school senior. Meet this exceptional teenager devoted to protecting our City’s wild birds.
NYC Audubon's Birdy Holiday Gift Guide
category: CONSERVATIONGENERALENGAGEMENT
The holiday season is here and the NYC Audubon staff has put together our best and birdiest list of gift recommendations! We have 15 amazing recommendations that are sure to win over the cheery cardinals, weird ducks, and even the grumpy grackles of your life. Happy holidays and happy birding!
Small Wins. Big Impact.
A Q&A with NYC Audubon’s new Director of Advocacy and Engagement, Saman Mahmood.
Paper Menagerie on Governors Island
category: CONSERVATIONENGAGEMENT
A fascinating new art exhibit imagines how climate change, habitat loss, and human impact would affect the birds of the future.
9/11 Memorial Shines a Spotlight on Risks to Birds
category: CONSERVATIONGENERALADVOCACY
For over 20 years, NYC Audubon scientists have monitored the 9/11 Tribute in Light. This year was particularly hazardous for birds.
Horseshoe Crab Monitoring 2023 Season Recap
category: CONSERVATIONENGAGEMENT
For nearly 15 years, NYC Audubon has been organizing a special opportunity for community scientists of all ages and backgrounds to come out to the beaches of Jamaica Bay in May and June during 12 nights around the full and new moon. The purpose? To monitor and tag Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs. During these special nights, thousands of horseshoe crabs come ashore along Plumb Beach and Big Egg Marsh in Jamaica Bay to spawn. See highlights from this season in our latest blog post.
The Christian Cooper Chronicles
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBON
NYC Audubon Vice President Christian Cooper shares his passion for birds and chronicles his many adventures in the upcoming book Better Living Through Birding and National Geographic show Extraordinary Birder, both set to debut in June 2023.
Turn Off the Lights This Spring and Fall; Save Millions of Lives
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBONADVOCACY
The bright skyline of New York City may be emblematic of "the city that never sleeps," but the nocturnal glare is dangerous for the millions of migrating birds that travel along the Atlantic Flyway. Learn about this fundamental problem and the ways that NYC Audubon is working towards solutions.
PSF FALL 2022
category: VOLUNTEER!CONSERVATION
Katherine Chen | February 27, 2023:
Results are in from the Fall 2022 Project Safe Flight season, the 26th year of our signature community science research program studying bird collisions in NYC. See key findings from this season, which saw record volunteer participation and coverage of all five boroughs for the first time in the program's history.
Volunteer Profile: Junko Suzuki, Determined Birder
NYC Audubon's passionate volunteer corps has sustained its conservation work for over 40 years. Meet Audubon Christmas Bird Count surveyor Junko Suzuki.
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBON
The Laughing Gull, the striking "summer gull" of the East Coast known for its infectious guffaw, has had its ups and downs in New York City. Read about the resilience of this gregarious species and its Jamaica Bay nesting colony.
Discover the Thriving Bird Community on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center's Network of Green Roofs: Over 50 Species Found
category: CONSERVATION
At the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, our conservation team has been thrilled to document a staggering 51 bird species thriving on its network of green roofs! This impressive feat is even more remarkable when you consider the building's past reputation for being a danger to birds due to its untreated glass. Learn about the two latest species found at the Javits Center, and why we are seeing an ever-increasing number of birds on its rooftop.
CBC 2022
category: VOLUNTEER!CONSERVATIONENGAGEMENT
Thank you to all who joined NYC Audubon for the 123rd Annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count on December 18. It was an extraordinary Sunday, with over 200 community scientists fanning out across Manhattan and Northern New Jersey for bird surveys at 35 different locations—seven within Central Park alone! While we are still sifting through the data from all our counts, we are sharing some initial highlights reported by volunteer counters.
Project Safe Flight Points the Way to a Bird-friendly Future
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBONADVOCACY
Get the latest updates on Project Safe Flight, NYC Audubon's signature campaign to protect migrating birds in New York City. Learn how we use our research to reduce window collisions.
Introducing the Volunteers of Project Safe Flight
Get to know the volunteers of Project Safe Flight, who devote themselves to rescuing injured birds in the City, and in doing so, collect research data crucial to NYC Audubon's advocacy efforts.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBONENGAGEMENT
Get to know the interesting ecology and evolving family tree of the Yellow-rumped Warbler, New York City's only winter-time warbler species.
Songs in a City Soundscape: Tips for Birding by Ear
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBONENGAGEMENT
Learn how to become more connected to the sounds of birds in New York City and explore the ways in which birdsong is impacted by human noise.
President's Perch: A Peregrine Pair Represents Progress...and Promise
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBON
NYC Audubon Board President Karen Benfield relates the successful fledging of a brood of Peregrine Falcons on Manhattan's Upper West Side—and explores both the excitement it caused in the neighborhood, and the promise the birds' presence holds for the future of conservation.
Ensuring This Year's 9/11 Tribute in Light Was Safe for Birds
category: VOLUNTEER!CONSERVATION
The Tribute in Light is a stirring and fitting reminder of the tragic events of 9/11, but it can also be a hazard for thousands of migratory birds that travel through the City at night; birds can get trapped in the beams of light and become disoriented, making them more likely to suffer collisions with buildings. For the 21st consecutive year, last weekend NYC Audubon was stationed at the Tribute from dusk to dawn in partnership with 9/11 Memorial & Museum to make sure this touching memorial did not unnecessarily harm birds, as well as further our research on artificial light's effects on birds.
The Javits Center: Leading from the Rooftops
category: CONSERVATIONURBAN AUDUBON
Read about the Javits Center's increasing role as a leader in New York City's sustainability efforts and its ongoing partnership with NYC Audubon to transform the Center into a haven for wildlife.