On a slightly cold and cloudy October 4th, ten members of the MSNH and one visitor from Manchester, UK, met with Dr. Lukas Musher (Drexel University) in the north part of Central Park. While already Fall, leaves where still on most trees, however, many migratory birds received the signal of declining light and went on their journey to the south, avoiding the upcoming winter months and related food shortages. However, after a quiet first hour, birds started to come in – first, we were greeted by a red-tailed hawk, perching close to us, followed by a flurry of feathered friends. In total we observed 42 species (with many “lifers” for our friend from Manchester), not bad for a walk which started in cold and ended with rain! We had a lovely group and were excited to see what our neighborhood still offers in terms of biodiversity.
Among our highlights were:
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds, drinking their last sips of nectar before going south
Woodpeckers, everywhere: Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers.
Chipping Sparrows, all over trees
Brown-Headed Cowbirds, feeding just around our feet
Warblers, just getting ready for the migration: American Redstart, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler
For a complete list, please see eBird Checklist (thank you, Dr. Musher!).
We would like to thank Dr. Luke Musher for sharing his expert knowledge & excitement. For more details on Dr. Musher’s interesting research on birds – with a focus on the Neotropics - please see his website. To view more photos from this event, please visit our gallery. Photo credit goes to Harald Parzer.
Useful Birding Apps:
eBird – Become a citizen scientist and report your bird observations!
Getting started with eBird including free introductory course (eBird Essentials) offered by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
eBird App
Merlin – Bird Guide for identification
BirdNET – Identify bird vocalizations
Dr. Luke Musher is a research scientist at Drexel University. He completed his Ph.D. at the Richard Gilder Graduate School of the American Museum of Natural History studying how biodiversity originates in the tropics. His research focuses on the evolutionary history of birds in the Amazon rainforest, which is the most biodiverse ecosystem on the planet. Dr. Musher has been birding for more than sixteen years, and during that time he has travelled all over the United States and Latin America for both research and bird watching. Still, he loves birding in New York.