Central Park Count Finds Migratory Birds Are Staying

Gothamist reports:

The 124th annual Christmas bird count concluded on Sunday with a tally of 9,673 birds in Central Park – including many species whose ranges have moved northward by as much as 200 miles due to climate change, according to scientists.

A review of data since 2012 from the National Audubon Society’s Central Park count shows birds once thought of as migratory southern species – like cardinals, tufted titmice, Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers – are moving to the New York area.

American robins in Central Park no longer migrate because of warmer winters, according to birders who spotted 550 of them on the count, which NYC Audubon organized with the city’s parks department. In 2012, counters spotted 97.

Read the full article.

At the 124th Annual #AudubonCBC in Central Park on Sunday, NYC Audubon volunteers counted over 9,600 birds. Why do community scientists flock to parks each year to count birds? And what can their sightings tell us about our planet? @Gothamist explains🔗⬇️https://t.co/AdkViE3FdH

— NYC Audubon (@NYCAudubon) December 20, 2023