Date: 7/1/25 3:38 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan, and N.Y. County, NYC - late June lingerers and breeding birds
Manhattan - with additions for all of New York County - in N.Y. City
thru end of June
A Pied-billed Grebe at Central Park’s Turtle Pond was quite uncommon for the county in early summer, found on June 23rd, although the species is not unprecedented in the summer months in this county. One Hooded Merganser has been in the Central Park reservoir again, unusual for this time of year, yet that species has become slightly more regular in the region in summer, and this one bird may represent part of that trend, seen over at least several recent days there.
The habitat-news out of Central Park is that in the northeast sector of that park, the big project of making a new - redesigned swimming pool and the associated shoreline of over half of the waterbody known as The Meer, is now fully re-open to the public. The Meer has tens of thousands of new plants, mainly native plants. It also has a few sections of shore-path that extend over the water, as metal boardwalk paths, while eliminating some parts of the former cindered walks, although some parts of those might remain, or will be paved. The newly-reopened area is sure to be very popular and very busy all summer on into the rest of this year, the more so as the word gets out that the new pool is ready, in use already, and the Meer path is now walkable again all-around. The water from the Loch now flows visibly - rather than partly in an invisible channel - thru a channeled but planted sluice with very small dams into the Meer, with a path alongside. Also fully-opened again is the entire Conservatory Garden in the park, which is the only gated, fenced formal garden in the park - some plantings were removed or reduced in that garden to make for wider paths of stone, and entire allies of very old large ornamental apple trees were replaced by much smaller, younger trees. It remains to be seen how native birds like all of the changes in this area of Central Park, and there is still a lot overall of that north end of that park which is still much as it had been in recent years.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds continue to be seen in at least several sites in the county, including at Central Park. Close observations could possibly reveal nesting, which have happened in the past in the modern era in this county. Not known as a common breeder here, however! There may also be some individuals that simply linger thru all or part of a summer and are not breeding or attempting to nest. The Monk Parakeets are watched more this summer than in any other year in recent memory, while not at all a new breeding species in this county, and not even in a new site where the vast majority of observers are watching at a nest. More comments below on the species. To put it bluntly, there were birds and bird-observations for a long time pre-eBird.
At least some warblers were still around the county, among these were a few of those which are breeding or could be attempting to, mainly Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats. A slight possibility for the lingering American Redstarts, and even the Northern Parulas that had been lingering past mid-June, for attempts at breeding in this county, although full documentation of such would be required to prove any such. At least one of the N. Parulas is still in the Central Park Ramble, and some have reported two birds in the same area in June. Redstarts were ongoing in several areas of the county.
Other warblers that were still about have included a straggling Magnolia Warbler, a late or straggling Canada Warbler, and at least a few Ovenbirds and, as with the Ovenbirds a not-that unusual straggler for Central Park, Black-and-white Warbler. Some of the warbler species that are found in late June, or into earliest July are likely non-breeding individuals and might well stay in the county thru the summer, leaving as the fall or southbound migration - which of course starts in July - gets into higher gear. By the second week of July, at least a few warbler species may be starting to return south, in low densities and numbers - in any normal year. By late July, a lot more of the earliest-moving fall-southbound warblers and some other songbirds are already coming back - to a greater extent than is commonly expected or watched.
Laughing Gull has been quite regular in many locations recently, occasionally in modest numbers, or as singles or small groups. Yellow-crowned Night Herons are mostly found in this county at Randalls Island, but are at least occasional elsewhere, including as flybys at certain hours, which may be during darkness. Black-crowned Night Heron is by far the more common and widely-seen of the 2 night heron species in our area. Both visit, feed in, and roost in this county during warmer months and are at least uncommon visitors or partial-residents in many of the colder months, as well.
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Some of the birds that are nesting or have bred this year in this county - some species in only one or a few locations within the county. Species noted below do not include all of the birds seen in recent weeks.
Canada Goose
Mute Swan - in locations that can be viewed in and from this county.
Gadwall
Mallard
Mallard - feral and domestic types
American Black Duck
Feral Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Chimney Swift
Killdeer
American Herring Gull
Common Tern
Green Heron - multiple areas in multiple county locations, including multiple nests in Central Park this summer.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted form of so-called Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Coopers Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Monk Parakeet - a lot of observation of those in one location this summer. This is at a known, historical location area where the species had bred or attempted to breed over the past 4 decades or more - it is not a new area for the species, but had not been highly-observed until very recently, and the parakeets have other potential nest locations, as well. The specific location for many observers is one that was used in past years, with little observation in most of those years, it is not at all a new location to the parakeets. It may or may not be a nest site for now, but simply a regular roost, with an ongoing or rebuilt nest of sticks, as is typical.
Owls - two species are definitely breeding again. All owls are generally not posted in eBird during this season. Some birds being reported as heard may not be owls.
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Willow Flycatcher - at least attempting to.
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven - multiple successful nestings.
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - nesting has occurred in at least 3 locations in the county, perhaps more this year.
House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Common Yellowthroat - fledged young, in at least 2 locations. This species is also lingering in some Manhattan locations where breeding is rather unlikely.
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal
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And some species which have nested here in past decades, and could again be nesting -
Common Nighthawk - with huge decreases in the modern era, this was once a fairly common summer bird of this city including this county.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - adult males and females in the past month in a number of locations, with some sightings to the end of June.
Indigo Bunting - potential for nesting may be low, but this species has at least attempted breeding in the county before.
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Plus some possible or potential nesters or nest-attempters here, within N.Y. County -
Wood Duck - at least 2 continuing, but no hints of any breeding activity by these individuals.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - this species has nested within the county in the past century.
Belted Kingfisher - occurs often in summer but are thought to be non-breeding birds.
Pileated Woodpecker - perhaps unlikely but not inconceivable in northern Manhattan.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - very unlikely. This species summers-thru in small numbers about every year, many in various odd-spots in Manhattan.
Red-headed Woodpecker - unlikely, and as this species would -presumably- be noticed in summer! It is a regular migrant and often winters. There was a possibility of a breeding attempt when as many as TEN individuals spent a winter in ONE park, Central Park and then several of this species remained to late-May of that year, however at exactly the point when any potential breeding might have been attempted, there was a massive tree-limbing - cutting specifically in the exact areas where the species was present and soon after, all of the individuals were no longer seen. And, since that time, fewer of the species have visited that park in any given year, although the species still occurs each year, most-often in fall and some also staying into some winters. As most know, this species is scarce as a breeder in most of the northeast in our modern era, with some sites that have the species each year, in NYS and in other parts of northeastern states.
Scarlet Tanager - adult birds have stayed thru summer in some years at some parks.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak adults have stayed thru summer in some years at some parks.
Blue Grosbeak - probably highly-unlikely, but not inconceivable in some parts of the county.
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Various birds are unlikely as nesters within the county itself, but may be nesting in the vicinity, particularly for some on small uninhabited isles in, for example, the western ends of Long Island Sound, or in the East River estuary or elsewhere near this county. Many of the below species are occasional to every-day visitors at some times of each year, and some are nearly-regular all year long. A few, such as Willet, are exceedingly-rare in this county despite being common in some particular parts of N.Y. City in the nesting season. There is also the regular confusion of the species which may start to return-south early in summer, and might be mistaken for individuals which tried to breed here - and further confusion is also possible as some of those species also can and do breed in limited numbers, such as -for one example- Yellow Warbler. The hundreds of Yellow Warblers showing again by the start of August in this county are mostly southbound-migrators, some of which may linger a while here in their return journeys - while very few are likely to be those individuals or offspring which actually nested in the county, at that date or later. Each species of bird has its own particularities of phenology and that also may often be complex within each species, as well. The earliest of returning southbound migrants are often somewhat -relatively- overlooked, even to this day when so many observers continue to be active at all seasons.
American Oystercatcher - increased awareness is likely reflective of an increase in the species around the county-waters, and for adjacent shores.
American Woodcock - not known in the modern era as a breeder here, but not inconceivable - rather scarcely-documented here in summer however.
Spotted Sandpiper - fairly regular in summer, but many can be both late-stragglers, and some may linger, as well as early-southbound returnees coming thru.
Willet - rare, and is not really expected as a breeder in the county, nor for any regular passages.
Laughing Gull - regular and may be increasing a bit in the county, including visitants and flyover sightings.
Ring-billed Gull - uncommon but regular in summer, non-breeders.
Lesser Black-backed Gull - possible in summer, with rather scant sightings in most years, especially outside of unusual weather.
Great Black-backed Gull - regular in all times of year in the county.
Forsters Tern - recent sightings from a few locations, status in the county is unclear but remains a scarce species, while Common Tern is a breeding bird.
Black Skimmer - occasional and may show in any location in summer, with evening, night-time, and dawn feeding being observed for some years in some places in the county.
Double-crested Cormorant - regular all summer, frequent flyovers as well as roosting and feeding.
Black-crowned Night-Heron - regular all summer in multiple locations, especially for observers out at dusk, dawn, or in night-hours in some locations here.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - fairly regular but scarce in just a few locations, especially on Randalls Island.
Black Vulture - increasingly noted from this county, some are actually flying over adjacent New Jersey, but also may be found roosting, rarely in this county in summer.
Turkey Vulture - regular but generally uncommon in early summer here.
Osprey - more regular in summer than in many past decades in the county - and could -potentially- nest in some select sites in the county.
Boat-tailed Grackle - wanders into this county at various times or seasons, any suspected breeding for this county would require full-documentation.
Ovenbird - often some which summer in the county, esp. in some Manhattan locations, none suspected at all of attempting to breed.
American Redstart - few, lingering in a few sites where no breeding is at-all likely, and in all sites in the county the species is still an unlikely breeder, however, in some larger wooded parks and perhaps elsewhere, should be watched in case of any pairing, or any real evidence of attempted-breeding.
Northern Parula - uncommonly lingering into summer in the county, with more such records in the modern era.
Black-and-white Warbler - lingering birds are regular in this county, into and in summer. No breeding has ever been suspected nor documented for these here.
Summer Tanager - occasional to very late spring, perhaps some also linger to early summer, and also may re-appear thru the summer - status is little-known for much of the immediate region, but breeding is at least a possibility in the region. Much more regular that in past decades, and might be increasing a bit northwards.
And there are some additional examples of species that may sometimes be seen in early summer in this county, and which may not be breeding here. Our multiple White-throated Sparrows are not breeding in this county, the majority of those are seen in Manhattan and some may have lingered in specific locations for many many months. Less common in summer, Swamp Sparrow also is not seen as a breeder, but will sometimes linger in summer. Our regularly-breeding native sparrows are Song and Chipping, each nesting annually in multiple locations, including in Central Park. The status of summer Savannah Sparrow is unclear here, but seem likely to be straggling individuals, unless proven otherwise. The latter is generally rare to very-rare in summer in this county. In these contexts, summer is mostly a reference to the end of June and the month of July.
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Vast numbers and diversity of insect life, much of it supporting the birds which feed on many insects are being noted all around the county. Many summer flowers are out or have been starting to bloom, with abundant rain - and summer weather.
Good July observations to all,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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