Date: 8/17/26 4:13 am From: Tom Fiore <tomfi2...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] N.Y. County, NYC - thru 8/16 - migration, plus regular species
New York County -in N.Y. City- including Manhattan, Randalls, Governors, and Roosevelt Islands and the adjacent waters and skies -
thru Sunday, August 16 -
As for Central Park on Sunday, Aug. 16th alone, at least 17 species of migratory Warblers were seen on the day, by many observers thru all of the park. Yellow-billed Cuckoo was again seen in the Ramble area at Central, and at least 4 species of Sandpipers showed on the day, with Least, Semipalmated, Solitary, and Spotted Sandpipers all present.
The county overall had a more active migration period leading up to and starting off the weekend. A lot of migration had been occurring, with the majority being nocturnal and of southbound migrants passing right by, going on. However, some stopovers that did show have included shorebirds such as Semipalmated Plovers, Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary, Spotted, Least, these last 3 species showing at Central Park as well as multiple other sites, and Semipalmated Sandpipers by Sunday, in some Manhattan sites and on at least 2 of the other islands of the county. Inwood Hill Park, in n. Manhattan, with its mudflats, had enjoyed some numbers of some of these shorebirds, and Sherman Creek just n. of the eastern end of Dyckman Street, had numbers of shorebirds on Sunday. Also showing in a number of typical sites have been Killdeer, which also breed in this county.
A listing of many of the species found in the past several days for N.Y. County is below -
Brant - very few, still summering.
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck - multiple at Central Park.
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Mallard
American Black Duck
Wild Turkey - Battery Park, southern end of Manhattan.
feral Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo - several.
Common Nighthawks - multiple.
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds - multiple sites.
Semipalmated Plover - multiple for the county, but not many.
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper - modest numbers at a few locations.
Semipalmated Sandpiper - in moderate numbers at some locations.
Calidris species - some of the small sandpipers on the move were not given species ID.
Spotted Sandpiper - ongoing in fair to good numbers, multiple sites.
Solitary Sandpiper - ongoing.
Greater Yellowlegs - few, which is fairly typical for this county each season.
Laughing Gull - many, an increasingly noticed species in recent years in this county.
Ring-billed Gull
American Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Common Tern - regular in summer, breeds as well.
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret - good numbers in recent days.
Green Heron - ongoing.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - regular only at Randalls Island in this county.
Black Vulture - semi-regular from n. Manhattan, less so in any other part of N.Y. County.
Turkey Vulture
Osprey - multiple, daily.
Coopers Hawk - in very small numbers.
Bald Eagle - multiple.
Red-shouldered Hawk - very unusual find recently in mid August or any part of summer.
Broad-winged Hawk - at least one confirmed sighting for Manhattan.
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker
Monk Parakeet - several sightings recently. A breeding species in N.Y. City.
Olive-sided Flycatcher - regular over multiple recent days at Central Oark.
Eastern Wood-Pewee - some breeders are ongoing.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher - a few recent reports.
Willow Flycatcher
Alder or Willow Flycatcher species - some not identifiable to species.
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher - birders in family groups.
Eastern Kingbird - numbers are on the move now, as is expected here.
Eastern Warbling Vireo - the most common breeding vireo in this county.
Red-eyed Vireo - nesters and some likely migrators as well by now.
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven - residents.
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martins have been confirmed in southbound migration thru this county this month. More might still be found on the move, especially with careful, keen efforts.
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow - few, so far.
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow - few. Most-expected at nest site, and might be moving on at any time.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - migrating in fair numbers, in addition to scarce breeders.
Northern House Wren
Carolina Wren
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
Veery - few so far.
Wood Thrush - modest numbers of breeders, and some possible migrators by now.
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing - fairly numerous overall for the summer.
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Chipping Sparrow - nested here in modest numbers, as is typical in every year.
White-throated Sparrow - small numbers spend summer every year, not breeding!
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow - a few have summered, not a breeding species in this county.
Eastern Towhee
Bobolink - rather few being noticed so far, this is an annual migrant here, with a low rate of detection.
Orchard Oriole - still being found, some certainly moving now which is very expected.
Baltimore Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird - some typical early movements of this species, plus locals.
Brown-headed Cowbird - migrants are showing this month.
Common Grackle
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Ovenbird - multiple.
Worm-eating Warbler - multiple.
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush - multiple.
Blue-winged Warbler - multiple.
Black-and-white Warbler - good numbers showing recently.
Mourning Warbler - few so far, and fully expected now.
Common Yellowthroat - fairly common.
Hooded Warbler - at least several already came thru.
American Redstart - many, one of the most common warblers recently.
Northern Parula - multiple.
Magnolia Warbler - few so far.
Bay-breasted Warbler - not that early by now, for the first of these to have moved south.
Blackburnian Warbler - several, so far.
Northern Yellow Warbler - the most common migrant warbler of the past 4 to 6 weeks here.
Chestnut-sided Warbler - multiple, but not that many yet.
Pine Warbler - multiple.
Prairie Warbler - at least several.
Black-throated Green Warbler - this was one of the earlier than expected birds of the season.
Canada Warbler - multiple.
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Scarlet Tanager - multiple, in modest numbers.
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak - few, so far.
- Note - there are likely some additional species that came thru the county in recent days. All of the warbler species noted above have been found in Central Park, Manhattan but not quite all of these may have shown on Sunday. A number of warblers are turning up all around the county. About 100 species of wild, free flying birds have been seen in Central Park this month so far, with over 120 species of birds for all of New York County thus far, this month. Much more migration is expected here in the coming 2 weeks.