Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Pigeons Are Not the Only Birds in Manhattan.


Migratory birds wintering in the south.

As a 30-year Manhattanite, I think of pigeons when I think of the island's birds.  Everywhere you go, there are pigeons, sometimes many many many pigeons.  There is a great scene in Home Alone 2:  Lost in New York, where the McCauly Caulkin character meets the Bird Lady in Manhattan, New York's Central Park.  It is night, and the Bird Lady is standing like a statue with pigeons all over her, coat covered in bird droppings.   She was their Home Base.  So those are the birds, from white through many shades of gray to a silvery black-blue, all are multicolored in some way.  They peck around at everything they can get their tiny, pointy beaks on.   

But the NYC pigeons are not alone.  In fact, Central Park, which is surrounded by buildings, is one of the Northeast's best spots for bird watching in spring and fall.  The vast city park with hills, lakes, trees and meadows is a welcome resting place for birds making their northern and southern migrations when the seasons change in spring and fall.  The migration starts as far as South America and as far north as Canada.  There are numerous other parks in Manhattan that also are visited by the migratory birds.