Date: 4/26/26 12:48 am From: Thomas Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] Manhattan / N.Y. County, NYC - 20 warbler spp. on 4/25, plus uncommon migrants
New York County, including Manhattan, Governors, Randalls, and Roosevelt Islands and the adjacent waters and skies above the county -
- thru Saturday, April 25th -
We have by now had more than 160 species of wild, native birds for this month thus far, in this county.
Orange-crowned Warbler is one of the latest of the spring-arrival warblers to have been found, seen by multiple observers, and seen in Central Park by now, which makes for a tally of at least 22 species of American warblers seen by multiple observers in Central Park alone, this month, and with several more species of warbler also having occurred in nocturnal migration or as single-reporter-so-far hearings or sightings, this spring. Even on the getting-wet by late morning Saturday, April 25 in Central Park at least 18 species of warblers were seen collectively by the non-profit-birding community, in the collective. In all of the county, the tally went to at least 20 species of warblers on that same day. While a few Orange-crowned Warblers also regularly attempt overwintering in this county, and some seem to succeed at that, we also receive migrant arrivals of Orange-crowned, and in slightly higher numbers identified than in decades past. That appears to represent an actual slight increase from past-decades -spring- arrivals of that species.
A lot of these migrant warblers and many of the other neotropical-wintering migrants were holdovers from the mid to late-week regional migration incursions and with drop-ins, last Thursday -i.e., Wednesday night into Thurs. morning- being one of the larger migration events for this county. Even with impending rain arriving on Saturday, more than 250 observers and photographers were out and about seeking migrants, and a fair number stayed out in the rain, up to a point.
Ovenbird, Worm-eating Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Northern Waterthrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Blackburnian Warbler, Northern Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped -Myrtle- Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler were the species noted on Saturday. All but two of the above species were seen at Central Park, and a good diversity of these also were present in some other larger parks of Manhattan. The warblers were not seen in any numbers on the other islands of the county on Saturday.
A Caspian Tern was photographed over the Hudson River for a 2nd sighting off Manhattan this month, on April 24th from lower-west Manhattan. Many tern species are moving and a lot of species have been arriving on breeding territories among various species that breed in interior NY state and in New England. Certainly more of the terns in all their diversity will be moving, and ought to be watched for. Common Tern has by now surpassed the triple-digits marker at a well-known breeding colony at Great Gull Island off Long Island, NY.
A female-plumaged Blue Grosbeak was reported from the n.w. quadrant of Central Park on Saturday. While the species occurs as a matter of course each year in parts of southeast NY state, this is also a classic early-overshoot-type species, particularly about now, before May has arrived. Indigo Buntings have been in the low-multiple in the county, most if not all Indigos seen being bright breeding-males, so far.
It turned out that both the Chuck-wills-widow -the rarer by far of the caprimulgids that occur in NY- as well as the annually-seen-here Whip-poor-will were each present in Central Park on Thursday, April 23, with the far-rarer Chuck getting by far the greater attention on that day by most observers. The calls of the Whip were the key later, at post-dusk in the area of the 2 birds perches. The Whip-poor-will was also again seen Saturday, while the Chuck-wills might have moved on - the latter was not heard at all in the evenings.
A Vesper Sparrow was found on Governors Island, in N.Y. County a bit south of Manhattan, on Friday. Multiple Marsh Wrens were starting to turn up, a species seen previously this month in parts of the county, lately experiencing a bit of broader movements. Not many observers took note of the 2 lingering Red-breasted Mergansers at the Central Park reservoir to Saturday. Much much longer-lingering were ongoing Green-winged Teal still at The Pool in Central Parks n-w quadrant this weekend. The 3 most-regular swallow species of the county were all in place thru Saturday, including all in Central Park - Barn, N. Rough-winged, and Tree Swallows. Attempts to find other hirundine species in the county on Saturday appeared to not be successful.
Seekers of migrant Red-headed Woodpeckers are not having much success so far this spring in this county, despite the movements of that species regionally and through the full range of the species. A much-less-noted migrant -involving just some of them- Red-bellied Woodpeckers have been seen on -minimal- diurnal migrations - these told in part by watching the species go over bodies of water, and fly well-above high-treetop levels, moving steadily towards the north and northeast in these flights. Numbers are not high at all, at least as seen from this county for recent days. For example, one-hundred-plus-times more Flicker migration has been noted on any given day with migration occurring lately.
All sightings reported and some with alerts only from the local-area Discord birding app and in eBird, with the Macaulay Library for media, and thanks to responsible, reliable observers and photographers, many in support of not-for-profit institutions and organizations offering regular scheduled bird-walks in all areas of this city and beyond, with walk-leaders who follow codes of conduct in which the well-being of birds is first and foremost.
