New York City Area Bird-watching

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National Geographic Guide to Birdwatching Sites, Eastern U.S.

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Any list of New York’s birding hot spots must mention one of the best, and seemingly unlikeliest, of them all. Central Park, right in the heart of Manhattan, is a magnet not only for migrants but for city-bound birders. The park’s 840 acres [339.9 hectares] must seem tremendously inviting to birds looking for shelter in a forest of buildings, and nearly any patch of trees or shrubs may host interesting species in spring and, to a lesser extent, in fall. Most favored is the Ramble, a wooded area near the Great Lawn. In late April and May, you will find plenty of birders exploring the pathways for flycatchers, vireos, thrushes, warblers, sparrows, and anything else that might drop in. Central Park isn’t just a convenient urban substitute for a “real” birding trip. When a migrant wave hits, it can hold its own with nearly anyplace on the East Coast. While not as famous as Central Park, Prospect Park, across the East River in Brooklyn, deserves mention as another fine migrant site. CONTINUED

- Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
- Jones Beach State Park
- Gateway National Recreation Area

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Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge

The red knot congregates in huge flocks to feed along sandy beaches.

Photograph © Joe McDonald/Corbis

Year-round, New York City’s most rewarding birding site is the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in southern Queens, reached by taking Cross Bay Boulevard south from Belt Parkway. (The parking lot at the refuge visitor center is easy to miss, so watch carefully for it on the west side of the boulevard.) Waders, waterfowl, and especially shorebirds are the attraction at this preserve hard by John F. Kennedy International Airport; an amazing total of 330 species have been seen here. Stop at the refuge visitor center for information and a necessary free permit to walk the trails, and check the sightings book for interesting recent finds. Then walk around the West Pond, where depending on the season you will find waders (such as Great and Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and Glossy Ibis), or geese and ducks, or shorebirds, gulls, and terns. American Oystercatcher, Willet, Marsh Wren, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, and Boat-tailed Grackle are among the nesting birds. In winter, look for Brant in Jamaica Bay, for Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl over the marshes, and for an occasional Snowy Owl perched regally on the ground. The “garden” area near the visitor center can be excellent for migrant land birds in spring and fall (especially).
This much visited refuge, part of Gateway National Recreation Area, is best known for shorebirds, especially in summer and early fall at the East Pond, across from the visitor center. High tide is most productive, and at times the mudflats may be crowded with hundreds of Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, Red Knot, and Dunlin, to name just a few of the common species. Jamaica Bay’s specialty is Curlew Sandpiper, a stray from the Old World that has been seen nearly annually.

Jones Beach State Park
About 15 miles [24 kilometers] east of Jamaica Bay, take the Meadowbrook State Parkway south to Jones Beach State Park, one of the top sites on Long Island (actually on one of the barrier islands that parallel its southern coast). From fall through spring, follow Bay Parkway to the west end of the island. In fall—especially with a northwest wind, which pushes southbound migrants to the ocean’s edge—the vegetation in this area can be alive with songbirds, often including western strays. Keep an eye out, too, for migrant raptors, including Merlin and Peregrine Falcon. Walk west along the beach, watching in winter for Northern Harrier, Snowy Owl, Horned Lark, the Ipswich race of Savannah Sparrow, and Snow Bunting. Check the jetty at the end of the island for wintering Purple Sandpiper and scan the sea and inlet for seabirds.
Follow Ocean Parkway east about 15 miles [24 kilometers] and cross over to Fire Island and Robert Moses State Park, another excellent spot in migration. An annual hawk-watch here (E from parking lot No. 5) records good numbers of raptors, and here, as at Jones Beach, fall songbird migration can be exciting. Piping Plover and Least Tern, two species hurt by beach development and recreational use, nest along these barrier islands. In summer watch for Roseate Tern among flocks of the more common terns.

Gateway National Recreation Area
Like Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York, Sandy Hook is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, at the entrance to Lower New York Bay. A curving peninsula north of Highlands off New Jersey 36, it’s another good spot for wintering ducks and other waterbirds, and especially for spring and fall migrant songbirds, which rest and feed in any patch of trees or scrub. In addition, the narrowness of the spit here concentrates migrant raptors and can create a good hawk flight in spring and fall. Osprey, Piping Plover, and Least Tern are among the breeding birds.
As you enter the area, parking lots on the east offer views of the ocean, where some of the same sea ducks listed for Barnegat Lighthouse may be present in winter, and an east wind in spring or fall may bring Northern Gannet close in. Anywhere you find beach dunes, look for Snow Bunting and the Ipswich race of Savannah Sparrow in winter. Farther north, stop at the visitor center and walk west to Spermaceti Cove to check for waterbirds and (at low tide) for shorebirds. A mile-long [1.6-kilometer-long] nature trail begins here. Ask staff members about summer programs, which often include bird walks. At parking lot L, check the woods to the north for migrant songbirds, visit the observation tower to scan North Beach for raptors and waterbirds, and walk the dune trail along North Pond for bitterns, waterfowl, rails, and passerines. Horseshoe Cove to the west is good for waterbirds, while the Boy Scout camp opposite the boardwalk is an excellent “migrant trap.”