Date: 1/22/26 2:44 am From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - to 1/21 - 22 spp. of native waterfowl thus far in January, & other birds
New York County - in N.Y. City - including Manhattan, Randalls, Roosevelt , and Governors Islands, and the adjacent waters and skies above -
thru Wednesday, Jan. 21 -
Another brief deep-freeze shot of arctic air came thru for the region, whereas more of similar air masses could be coming right down again out of Canada in the coming week. This might yet get some additional waterfowl or other water birds to be moving further, but we shall see if all that much can be detected in this county.
Thanks to the finder, Adam Burnett, for the initial spotting of 3 Cackling Geese, long-expected - and also previously as very likely with a mix of sightings over the years at Central Park, many of those in the mid to late winter weeks, and some of those, over the years, also potentially referable to small Canadas. The 3 rarer geese on Wed. were observed thru the day, thanks to all the regular updates, including such alerts via Discord and then also in eBird, for much of the goose flock having come to the Great Lawn, a large turf-grass field just south of the reservoir in Central. The majority of many observers and photographers had seen these geese on the reservoir. Thanks to the many who updated in real-time on the status of those rarer geese.
As has been so for all of this month, birders in not-for-profit-affiliated small and some larger groups, as well as fully-independent birders and photographers, reporting via non-X birding apps, have found all of the species newly discovered and reported for the county. The three Cackling Geese from Central Park reservoir were just some of the latest of those finds. 8 Redheads, a quite-uncommon species in this county in the past 40 years, but much more regular in older times in the county, were seen by rather-few birders coming to the Central Park reservoir late in the day thru sunset, on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The various other duckage there had continued on for many days, including 4 or more drake Wood Ducks, several long-staying Common Mergansers, and other more-commonly seen ducks. Green-winged Teal have been ongoing thus far in Central Park, with at least a bit of movements at times for the lingering teals. The reservoir at Central Park being by far the deepest and larger body of water in that park, it has as is typical held open water to a greater extent than other watery locations in that park. That may not keep the waters there fully open after the predicted arctic cold to come along soon. The sightings of several Canvasbacks were so far only noted out in the Hudson, actually in N.J. waters but potentially scopeable, with a few vantage points north of W. 125th Street.
At Randalls Island last Sunday, among other waterfowl very near the island was a first-of-year drake American Wigeon, and at least ten Lesser Scaup were also seen, as well as some Greater Scaup, although of the latter species, more sightings are noted regularly out in N.Y. Harbor areas, including as seen from Governors Island. Other duck species have been showing off Randalls Island, with the rather expected and often-distant Common Goldeneyes, and on some days, numbers of N. Shovelers much closer, and varied additional waterfowl, as usual including many Brant. Off Inwood Hill Park, a drake N. Pintail has lingered in the area, joining other more-regular waterfowl.
Interestingly even with passages of Bald Eagles in various plumages, and fairly regular showings of some of the regular diurnal raptors of the county, at Central Parks reservoir, the waterfowl have mostly not evacuated just due to these occasional showings of raptors, although when the eagles have passed over, it is common that many gulls will react rapidly. Gull numbers have fluctuated a lot, as is somewhat typical there, with from near zero gulls at early-hours to up to 700-plus at certain times, just recently. Some gulls also have been roosting around places on the East River, east of Manhattan, and in certain locations there are many roosting gulls which are only rather-rarely scrutinized. In any event, the majority of gulls so far this month in this county are of the most-typical species of all, which here, at this season, is Ring-billed Gull. Once again, with a chance of a longer period of arctic air moving in, if that does in fact occur for some days, we could start to see some gull incursions, and a chance for additional species beyond the most-regular 3 winter gull species.
A Horned Lark was seen at Governors Island on Wed., a species that may be a bit more regular than is thought, and with more observers and efforts, could perhaps be found to be a regular, if scant migrant across the county, in appropriate seasons. Showing in mid-winter, it is not yet clear if the species can be seen as at all regular as a longer-term visitant, although habitat that could support some of the species is scattered around at least some patches in the county.
Sparrow diversity in this county has been about average, and then there is still at least one wintering Lincolns Sparrow, re-found again on 1-21 at Roosevelt Island, where seen over this month. A photo-documented Chipping Sparrow was found recently along the Hudson River greenway n. of W. 145th St. and to the south of the G.Washington bridge, which is a stretch of habitat with some potential in any season, yet relatively less-birded over the years. That stretch has, at least rarely, provided past winter Chipping Sparrow, and also occasional American Tree Sparrow. The county has had at least ten native sparrow species in this month, plus Dark-eyed Juncos and also modest numbers of E. Towhees scattered around various locations.
Some warblers that were still hanging in for the county past last weekend included Orange-crowned in multiple places, as well as Myrtle-form Yellow-rumped Warblers. Here and there in the county, both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets were ongoing, and there just may be a few additional warbler species ranging thru areas that have any food plus shelter-enough available. The possibility for a looming larger winter storm will of course affect any birds that are not extremely hardy in full-on winter weather.
Below are a majority of the species seen so far this month in New York County - a minimum of 110 species, including some very-sensitive-to-disturbances species that are around. As many as 75 or more of these species have occurred at or over Central Park in this month. For the county overall, some of the ducks have been in waters of adjacent counties, but are seen with efforts from land within this county.
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
feral Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Monk Parakeet
American Coot
Killdeer
American Woodcock
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Black-crowned Night Heron
Great Blue Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Coopers Hawk
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Owl species, multiple.
Belted Kingfisher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern -Yellow-shafted- Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Golden-crowned Kinglet
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
Horned Lark
American Pipit
House Finch
Purple Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Red Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed -Slate-colored- Junco
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincolns Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped -Myrtle- Warbler
Western Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Thanks to the many birders and photographers affiliated with and some working for and with not-for-profit organizations and institutions, including the American Museum of Natural History, the NYC Bird Alliance, and the Linnaean Society of New York as well as additional organizations which will hold not-for-profit guided walks, and all being in the field and in furthering real science, conservation, education, and natural diversity, with reports in the Discord app and as-ever, through eBird with the Macaulay Library for media. And also from reports by good old word-of-mouth while in the field.
