Notice the birds and trees in your local park with the new guide

Falcons aren’t the only species you’ll find in Washington Square and other city parks as summer comes to an end and fall begins. This summer, several organizations focused on New York City parks released the “New York City Urban Bird Explorer’s Guide,” a pocket-sized magazine, to help you spot birds in your local park.

The guide was developed in partnership with the Local Nature Lab, Madison Square Park Conservancy, Natural Areas Conservancy, Van Cortlandt Park Alliance, and Washington Square Park Eco Projects. Design and illustration services were provided by Art Nature Place (formerly Super Nature Adventures).

New York City is located within the Atlantic Migration Trail, which is one of the transcontinental migration routes that birds take between their breeding areas in the north and their wintering areas in the south. You won’t find birds only in the sky. Clear the tree crown of leaves and fruit, peer into the dense undergrowth, see clumps of wildflowers, and look down for birds making their way through the seed-strewn grassy areas. Don’t forget to look closely at the tree trunk. Birds are experts at camouflage.

The New York City Urban Bird Explorers Guide is also a tool for observing large and small trees in the city’s green spaces. The “Tree Detective” panel highlights seven species: the eastern white pine, the tulip tree (two of the tallest trees in our northeastern forests), and the northern red oak (oak trees are the preferred food of 950 species of caterpillars, according to Doug Tallamy, Ph.D.). , Sweetgum (a star-shaped leaf like no other), Red Maple (most things on this tree are red), Serviceberry (the fruit is coveted by many), and Flowering Dogwood (those white petals are not). petals really).

Download a free copy of “New York City Urban Birding Explorers’ Guide here.

Seamans is the director of Washington Square Park Environmental Projects. She prepared a dissertation on urban forest policy in Northern California cities. Her research has been published in the journals Urban Forestry & Urban Greening and Arboriculture & Urban Forestry. She also writes about trees in City Trees magazine and about birds in articles in Popular Science and Audubon.