Date: 12/17/25 3:28 pm From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - recent birds of mid-December
New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Roosevelt, Randalls, and Governors Islands, and the adjacent waters and skies above -
thru mid-December -
A Yellow-throated Warbler is ongoing thru Wednesday at and near Carl Schurz Park, East End Ave., mainly nearest E. 85th St. in and around that parks western edges and the netting-covered building areas, which is across from a part of the park where that warbler has mostly been observed. Some patience may be required to have a close view.
With much additional effort and observation somewhat centered in the annual bird-counts of the season, some lingering, long-lingering, as well as recently-pushing-in, and also plenty of typical winter -and resident- birds were found, including a good diversity for the day that centers the count effort, for this county, which also featured a moderate snow for all of the morning, and dropping temperatures as that day, Dec. 14 in this county, went along, albeit with some sun and a bit of a wind. The notes below are not a listing of highlights of the bird-counting, some of which is still under compilation, as the count-week period that takes in this county is ending only now.
Among birds that were still lingering and are continuing on even now, Yellow-throated Warbler was one, and that particular bird has been mobile as it utilizes both the east and west sides of East End Ave., and while still seen often in Carl Schurz Park, mainly near about E. 85th St., and often adjacent the Catbird Playground, it also regularly moves west across the avenue to a building with netting on it, as it is renovated and having that work done, the netting at all levels of the tall apt. building. A somewhat odd behavior for this particular warbler, as far as has been observed…. Also appearing, and in a number of locations, Orange-crowned Warblers have remained in at least some areas, while other species also did for the week in this county, including Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and Myrtle-form Yellow-rumped Warbler, while some Palm Warblers were at least elusive after being tracked thru Central Park’s northern parts, recently. A modest -or concerted, by some standards- effort was put on to areas of Manhattan north of 125th St. and south of Dyckman St. - which is to say in the overall neighborhood known as Harlem, to see if any uncommon or unexpected species of native birds might be found… on the 14th, none of special note were, but there are as in a lot of areas in this county, bits and pieces of habitat, and some in publicly-accessible places, some not-so, that could hold a lot of birds, potentially…. Baltimore Orioles hung in at least for the counting-day, in at least 2 separate areas in Manhattan.
Some less-expected species on the count -and in-general for the county- included at least 8 Purple Sandpipers seen at Governors Island, and a number of Snow Buntings in more than one location, as well as Horned Lark, one of that species for Roosevelt Island which is often deserving of still more birder-scrutiny at almost any time of year. Some waterfowl have been moving thru and some arriving to -probably- linger in the county, including more Common Goldeneyes, as well as some Scaup, both Lesser and Greater. There were at least a few sightings of Snow Geese, and again some reports of Cackling Geese - the latter a species that has certainly been moving into the region in recent days, and previously to some extent.
In native sparrow species, at least one Lincolns Sparrow seemed to be a persisting bird along the Hudson River greenway, where one had been in past weeks. A modest influx of American Tree Sparrows, along with some other sparrows here and there, came into the county, adding to numbers of various sparrows that are a bit more typical for winter in this county, such as White-throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, and in typically far-lower numbers, Red Fox Sparrows. A very few Savannah Sparrows and Swamp Sparrows were among species also noted thru this week. Other sparrow species might possibly still be lingering in some locations. Dark-eyed Juncos are in fairly good numbers right into the winter so far in this county.
There has been a bit of ongoing raptor movement as is not-that-unusual into December here, with species such as Red-shouldered Hawk, N. Harrier, and fairly good numbers of Bald Eagles on the move, some of these perhaps also lingering in the area. Nocturnally-active raptor species also have been found in a number of areas. In addition to the more-uncommon Purple Sandpipers, there have been some Killdeer and American Woodcock around, both not that unusual into winter here, although neither is usually common at all for winter. Some additional less-common birds -but not rare- have been reported recently, and at least some of those could be lingering, while many birds are likely to have been moving on, in the wake of the arctic-blast that briefly affected the region, and also affected some birders movements and endurance. One small note regarding Snow Bunting - that is a species with a long history for appearances in Manhattan including within -and over- Central Park, however as compared with eBird, the records there do not reflect the history of a park with birding-observations stretching back into the 19th century, and many interesting records before - some just-before, some far-earlier-than- the very recent era of eBirding, even with its allowance for the entries of historical sightings. In times now much-forgotten that persisted into the late-20th century, there were many areas on Manhattan island that had bits and pieces of nearly unused fields or lots, these included areas in even Central Park, where now almost all such spaces are covered in turf-grass or otherwise far more managed… with variation in what birds may stop in on such fields or in lots, as such changes occurred….
In earlier days of this month, more than 10 days ago, and to 2-plus weeks ago, a few gull species of note were confirmed for the records, although not found in the county on the bird-count, these included an earlier sighting of Lesser Black-backed Gull, and separately, and later, a Glaucous Gull, the latter moving past Manhattans east side, and the former at Central Park, but not noted on the record, subsequently. Also not-noted on the record for even the countys bird-count period, a Dickcissel at Central Park - a quite-drably-plumaged individual - was not re-found in this week or in the last ten days, although it possibly may still be lurking in that park, or -potentially- elsewhere in the county.
All those who came out to watch and count and help in the recent bird-counts in any way are thanked for all efforts, in snow and on the other, milder days as well.
Vastly more species of birds than just those noted-above have been found in recent days, and as this month continues, still more species are very possible, with ongoing observers also staying alert to what may yet turn up.
Good birding,
Tom Fiore
manhattan
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