On Sunday, May 2, a cloudy spring morning in Central Park, nine ready adventurers emerged from the fog of the last year and took their sights upward to the sky. With binoculars in hand and smartphones nearby to confirm their findings, the group engaged in the first in-person event of 2021: a spring bird walk! The group was led by biologist Rachael Joakim through various sections of Central Park starting on Central Park West and ending up at Belvedere Castle.
In that short distance, observers noted the many types of warblers, kinglets and finches that are present even in a small section of the park. This time of year finds not only birds that one might normally see but also many migratory birds passing northward through the area. As birds pecked at bugs from the dirt below to the canopy above, Rachael talked about how to locate birds first using our ears to listen for their calls before using our eyes, and she also discussed how best to identify birds - by the color of their bellies (what we’d normally see from below) to the shape of their tails and even to the color of their legs.
Among many other birds, the group spotted a few unique ones on the walk: a Baltimore oriole, an American Goldfinch, and the Blackburnian Warbler. Although there were reports of the rare Cerulean Warbler in the park that day, the group (and many other groups around us) were unable to locate it. Perhaps next year we’ll be so lucky!
To see a complete list of birds seen during our walk, check out ebird. To view more photos from this event, visit our gallery. All photo credit goes to Glenn Doherty.
Rachael Joakim is a 5th year partner Ph.D. student through the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and the CUNY Graduate Center. She studies the dynamics of wild birds and their microbial symbionts, using samples she collected herself over 4 month-long research expeditions in Indonesia. She is currently identifying avian malaria lineages in order to understand the infection dynamics within a complex endemic host community. In addition to avian research, she organized a birding competition amongst her fellow AMNH employees, which is now in its 4th year. She also participates in many forms of STEM outreach, including an after-school nature class in her neighborhood of Inwood, in the hopes of providing opportunities for young people to explore their interests in science and nature.